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i^ H) S) IB :i ^ § 

DELIVEBED BEFOKE THE 

PHILADELPHIA SOCIETY 



PROMOTING AGRICULTURE, J77 

AT, ITS MEETING 
ON THE 

TWENTIETH OF JULY, 1824. 

BY 

IVEATHE-^ OARSY? ESQ. 

MEMBER OF THE AMEUICAX PHILOSOPHICAL AND ASTiaVA- 
KIAN SOCIETIES. 



** WHiatever tends to diminish in any country the number of 
"^^ artificers and manufacturers, tends to diminish the home 
" market, the most important of all markets for the rude pro- 
"duce of the land; and thereby still further to discoiirage 
*' agriciiliure.'^ — Smith's Wealth of Nations. 

''If Europe will not take from us the products of our soil on 
'* terms consistent with our interest, the natural remedy is to 
*^ contract as fast as possible, ourtmntsofher!'^ — A. Hamilton. 

" The uniform appearance of an abundance of specie, as 
**the concomitant of a flourishing state of manufactures, and 
**of the reverse, Avhere they do not prevail, afford a strong pre- 
*' sumption of their favourable operation on the wealth of a 
** country." — Idem. 

"A constant and increasing necessity on the part of the United 
*' States for the commodities of Europe, and only & partial and 
** occasional demand for their o-vn in return, could not but eX' 
*' pose the^n to a state of impoverishment, compared xvith the 
*' opule?ice to nvhich their political and natural advantages 
'* authorise them to aspire" — Idem. 



phinted by oboek of the society. 



FOUR-yH EDITION, REVISED AND CORRECTED. 



PHILADELPHIA: 
PRINTED BY JOSEPH R. A. SKERRETT 



October, 1824, 



SV4 



.C2.1 



At a meeting of the " Philadelphia Society 
for promoting Agriculture," held July 20th, 
1824: 

The annual address was delivered by Ma- 
tliew Carey, Esquire : 

On motion, Resolved^ that the thanks of the 
Society be presented to Mathew Carey, Esq. 
for his address, and that he be requested to 
furnish a copy for publication. 

W. S. WARDER, 
Assistant Sec*ry. 



PREFACE. 



To the Farmers and Planters of the United States, 
Fellow Citizens, 

The following pages, involving a subject of the 
utmost importance to your dearest interests, are 
respectfully submitted to your most serious consi- 
deration. To insure the doctrines they contain a 
calm and candid investigation, it will, I hope, be 
sufficient to state that they are in accordance with 
the practice of all the prosperous nations of the 
old world ; that the prosperity of those nations has 
been and is in proportion to the extent to which 
these doctrines are carried into practice ; and tliat 
they are adopted generally, in a greater or less de- 
gree, in the codes of nearly all the newly-formed 
governments of the western hemisphere, which have 
had the sagacity either absolutely to prohibit," or to 
impose prohibitory duties on, such articles as would 
interfere with or crush the national industry. 

Independent of the practice of those nations, 
these doctrines are in unison with the clear and ex- 
plicit maxims of the wisest statesmen the world 
has ever produced — the Edwards, Walsinghams, 
Colberts, SuUys, and Frederics, beyond the Atlan- 
tic — and on this side, the Franklins, Jeffersons, and 
Hamiltons, a powerful host.* 

The soundness of these doctrines receives fur- 
ther corroboration, from the melancholy experience 
of those countries where they have been disregard- 
ed — Spain, Portugal, Italy, Poland, and Ireland, 

1 For a few of the maxims of these three great states- 
men, see the close of this address. 



IV Freface, 

often quoted, but quoted in vain. Our own expe- 
rience, subsequently to our two wars, also sheds 
strong light on the subject. Russia, for two years, 
1820 and 1821, tried the effect of the system we 
pursue, which in that short time blighted and blast- 
ed the national prosperity as much as a war of i^n 
years duration could have done. A circular of the 
emperor Alexander, draws the following strong 
picture of the national suffering : — 

"In proportion as the prohibitory system is extended 
" and rendered perfect in other countiies, that state ivMch 
^* pursues the contrary sysiefu, makes from day to day sacri- 
*'Jices more extensive and more considerable. * * * It offers 
**a continual encouragement to the manufactures of other 
** countries — and its own manufactures perish in the struggle 
** ivhich they are as yet unable to maintain, 

"It is with the most lively feehngs of regi-et we ac- 
" knowledge it is our own proper experience which en* 
« ables us to trace this picture. AGRICULTURE WITH- 
« OUT A MARKET, INDUSTRY WITHOUT PROTEC- 
« TION, LANGUISH AND DECLINE. SPECIE IS EX- 
" PORTED, AND THE MOST SOLID COMMERCIAL 
« HOUSES ARE SHAKEN. 

" E-oents have proved that our AGRICULTURE and our 
"COMMERCE, as well as our MA.NUFACTURING IN- 
" DUSTRY, are not only paralyzed, BUT BROUGHT TO 
"THE BRINK OF RUIN." 

In consequence of this calamitous state of affairs, 
a new tariff was adopted in Russia, in 1822, which 
contains about 340 prohibitions. 

Among the difficulties attendant on the discussion 
of subjects of deep interest, one of the most serious 
is, the errors in point of fact, into which partizans 
fall, whereby it is scarcely possible for the commu- 
nity at large to avoid erroneous deductions. Facts 
are the pivots on which sound judgments depend, 
on practical subjects ; and where they are mistaken 
or misstated, theories erected on them, are as unsafe 
as edificies erected on sandy foundations. 



Preface, v 

No subject has ever been discussed in this coun- 
try, on which so many and such glaring errors in 
point of fact have been promulgated, as on the pro- 
tection of manufactures, in the late discussions in 
and out of congress. It were endless to enume- 
rate them. Some are commented on in the body of 
this address — I shall here briefly touch on four of 
the most striking, out of fifty, which might justly 
claim refutation. 

I. It was asserted that the bill would prohibit 
the importation of goods, wares, and merchandise, 
to the amount of S 30,000,000 ! ! ! 

*« What, in the ag-gregate, is the measure proposed? To 
^* prohibit the importation of manufactvres and other articles ^ 
«' to the amouvt of g 30,000,000 ! It is true, we are told, 
<* that a certain portion, but that small, will not be prohi- 
*' bited for some time to come." — Mr. Cambreleng's Speech, 
Feb. 18, 1824. 

II. That it would impair the revenue to the 
amount of 87,000,000, or, " nearly so ! !" 

"The effect of this Bill would h<z to prohibit, or nearly 
" so, the importation of g-oods, the duties on which, from 
"a statement laid on our table, amount to g 7,000,000." 
—Mr. Rankin's Speech, p. 19. 

III. That the cotton, woollen, and hardware "ma- 
nufactures receive no protection by duty in Great 
Britain. 

" Mr. Rankin read a passag-e from pag-e 168 of Mr. 
" Lowe's work, to show, that of the whole manufactured 
*♦ productions of Eng'land, consumed at home and abroad, 
«' estimated at L. 123,000,000, the cottons, woollens and 
" hardware, which are the most considerable portion of 
*' them, and which received no protection from the govern- 
*'ment by duty!.'.' amounted to i.80,000,000."— iJewz, p, 
26. 

IV. That England, far from owing her prospe- 
lity to her system of protection, " has groicn rich 
in spite of her restrictions an trade .'" 

" England has grozvn rich in spite of her restrictions 
" upon trade-, and not bv mearis of their.. Her wisest. stRtcs- 

A 2 



Ti Preface, 

" men are desirous of removing them, and can trace with 
"unerring- certainty to their operation, a large part of the 
"oppression under which the fundamental interest of that 
"nation languishes, and is doomed to languish." — Me- 
monal of the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. 

All these assertions are utterly destitute of the 
smallest shadow of foundation. On the two first 
items I sliall simply observe, that some of the lead- 
ing members of congress who used those arguments, 
not only abandoned them at the close of the de- 
bates, but even asserted, that far from reducing the 
revenue, the tariff bill would increase it 2 or 3,000,- 
000 dollars ! ! 

I shall discuss the third and fourth points in con- 
nexion. It is obvious to the most superficial reader, 
that the fourth is a vital one, and ought to decide 
the question at issue. For if the restrictive system, 
which has been carried to a greater extent in Great 
Britain, than in any other country, has impeded 
her prosperity, it irresistibly follows that every prin- 
ciple of sound policy dictates that we should avoid 
its baleful consequences. If, on the contrary, it 
has been, as contended by the friends of the pro- 
tection of manufactures, the main source of her 
prosperity, then it is undoubtedly worthy of our 
adoption, so far as suits our situation and circum- 
stances. 

When it is considered that the object of the Bri- 
tish ''restrictive system" is to sedulously watch 
over, and guard the interests and industry of all the 
subjects of Great Britain-— -to secure the freights of 
the British trade at home and abroad to British 
merchants — to secure to British farmers, mechan- 
ics, and manufacturers, as far as practicable, i\\Q. ex- 
clusive supply of the domestic market with the pro- 
ducts of their industry — to purchase articles in as 
rude, and to sell them in as elaborated a state as 
possible, so as to provide profitable employment 



Pr^ace. vii 

lor the working population — and by every means 
to force the products of the national industry on 
all other nations — it appears just as rational to 
assert that vessels make speedy voyages " in *spite^^ 
of favourable winds — that the Missouri and Missis- 
sippi have swelled to their present magnitude *' in 
spite^^ of their tributary streams — that heat is pro- 
duced " in spite^^ of tire — congelation " in spite"^^ 
of frost — or that the earth produces copious har- 
vests "i?i spite^^ of salutary alternations of refresh- 
ing rains and glowing sunshine, as that Great Bri- 
tain has grown rich *' in spile'^ of a system so ad- 
mirably and infallibly calculated to enrich a nation. 

I shall consider the restrictive system of Great 
Britain in its operation upon her navigation — and 
upon her woollen — leather — silk — and cotton ma- 
nufactures. 

When Cromwell assumed the reins of govern* 
ment in England, the navigation of that country 
v*'as at a very low ebb, while that of the Dutch was 
at the highest pinnacle of greatness. At one period 
they built 1000 vessels per annum. ^ Above 100 
vessels entered the port of Amsterdam in a day. 
The Dutch had as many ships as eleven kingdoms, 
including England.*^ They enjoyed the chief part 
of the carrying trade for most of the maritime 
powers of Europe ; engrossed the freights between 
England and her colonies, and even the major part 
of the coasting trade of England; supplied her 
with the productions of a large portion of the globe, 
and in return carried away her produce and manu- 
factures to all other nations. While the Dutch were 
thus aggrandizing themselves, and increasing the 
natiol^al " wealth, power and resources," English 



- Macpherson's Annals of Commerce, vol. II. paore 237 



viii Freface, 

vessels were rottin» in port. Under these circum- 
stances, distracted as were the affairs of England, 
the rump parliament passed the navigation act, 
whereby the trade to the English colonies was in- 
terdicted to foreigners — and foreign vessels were 
prohibited from importing into England any articles 
not the production or manufacture of the nations 
to which they respectively belonged. This produc- 
ed an immense change in the affairs of both nations. 
It laid the foundation of the naval ascendency of 
England, and inflicted a mortal wound on that of 
the Dutch.* 

Here is " restriction" in the fullest sense of the 
word — and here the principle was fairly tested. Is 
there to be found a man of character in Europe or 
America, who will venture to assert, that the navi- 
gation of Great Britain, the corner stone of her 
greatness and power, has prospered "m spite of the 
'• restrictions^^ of this act, and so many others, ex- 
tending its provisions.^ I trust, not one. It is uni- 
versally admitted, that the restrictions of this act, 
laid the foundation of the naval supremacy of Eng- 
land. 

It now remains to see how extravagantly errone- 
ous Mr. Rankin's statement is, so far as regards 
woollen and cotton goods. To what 1 have stated in 
the address, on the subject of the woollen trade of 
Great Britain, I shall barely add, that according to 
Pope's British Customs, woollen cloths of all des- 
criptions, were subject in 1818 to a duty of 1?. 14.s. 
0(7. or S 7.33 per yard. The permanent duty had 
been 1/. \s. 6d. — to which, during the war, were ad- 
ded one-third and one-fourth, both of which were in 
full force in 1818. So much for woollen goods re- 

^"This law grievnvisly aflTected the Dutch, who, till 
'• no'.v, hiul been almost the sole carriers of itierchundise 
'' I'rooi one coautry to anotiicr,'' Idem. p. 443- 



Preface, ix 

ceiving " no protection by dutyP^ By the existing 
tariff, enacted in 1819, the duty is 50 per cent. 

The next article, the cotton manufacture, exhi- 
bits the most magnificent result of profound policy 
that the world has ever exhibited, which, if strong 
facts and fair deductions were allowed to have their 
due weight, would set this question at rest forever. 
Of cotton England does riot produce a pound. 

Although we are gravely informed that the "cot- 
ton manufacture receives no protection by duty," 
it is a fact, that printed calicoes from beyond the 
Cape of Good Hope have been prohibited altogether 
in Great Britain for more than a century. The pro- 
hibition remains in the existing Tariff, and is en- 
forced by a heavy penalty: — 

" Calicoes, painted, stained, or dyed, in Persia, China, 
" or East India, shall not be worn or used in this king- 
" dom." And further : " All such goods, whether mixed, 
" sewed, or made up tog-ether for sale with any other 
" goods, shall be forfeited, and the person in whose cus- 
"tody, knowing thereof, the same shall be found, or that 
« shall dispose thereof, shall forfeit 200/." 

In the tariff which was in operation in 1818, the 
duty on cotton goods, not otherwise enumerated, 
was 85A -per cent. 

The duty on such printed cottons, as are not 
prohibited, is at present 75, and on plain white 
cottons 67 per cent. 

5 I cheerfully do Mr. Rankin the Justice to believe, 
that his error was unintentional. Lowe's idea, as may be 
seen on consulting his text, is, that the three manufactures 
are brought to such perfection in Great Britain, that 
they could not be affected by any foreign competition, and 
therefore do not require any protecting duties. The fact 
of the existence of protecting duties on all, and even 
prohibitory duties on some of the particular articles of 
those branches, was too well known to have escaped such 
a profound writer as Lowe. 



X Freface. 

The cotton manufacture, thus protected by boun- 
ties, prohibitions, and prohibitory duties, or " re- 
strictions on trade,''^ has, within the last 25 years, 
made wonderful progress. The average importa- 
tion of cotton, for 10 years, from 1799 to 1808, 
inclusive, was - - - lbs. 56,780,950 

From 1809 to 1816 - - - 86,019,540 

In 1821 - - IV . . 129,013,000 

Of the quantity imported, a considerable portion 
was re-exported, probably 10 per cent. 

The consumption in 1823, was 
533,420 bales, at about 275 lbs. 
per bale, equal to lbs. 144,290,000 

In 1811, according to Colquhoun, the amount of 
the manufacture was 29,000.000^.— or g 130,500,- 
000. In the year 1823, it amounted, according to 
a statement in parliament by Mr. Huskisson, to 
54,000,000/. or ^ 243,000,000. 

Thus has this important manufacture been nearly 
trebled in about twenty years — and increased 80 
per cent, in twelve years. Has this noble industry 
arrived at its present state, " in spite of the restric- 
tions on trade ?" The answer is unequivocally in 
the negative. When it was first introduced into 
Great Britain, the East India article could be afford- 
ed for less than a third of the price of the domestic; 
and, had its importation been permitted, the British 
manufacturer could never have competed with the 
Asiatic. 

It remains to present a synopsis of the actual 
state of this mighty branch of industry, which 
affords more solid wealth to Great Britain than 
any nation ever derived from one source — 

I. It employs 500,000 families, averaging four 
persons to each, or a seventh part of the popula- 
tion of the nation. 



Preface. xi 

If. The export of the manufacture is about 
22,000,000^. equal to about g 99,000,000. 

III. The domestic consumption is about 32,000^- 
000/. equal to S 144,000,000. 

IV. It employs a capital of above 30,000,000/. 
or S 135,000,000. 

To these three great articles, I shall add a view 
of the leather and silk manufactures: — 

The original duty on all articles made of leather, 
or of which leather is the most valuable part, was 
90 per cent. The war duties increased it to 142|. 
By the new tariff* it is 75 per cent. 

Silk, like cotton, is not the produce of Great Bri- 
tain. It is indigenous in countries^ where labour is 
not above half the price it bears in England. The 
manufacture had, therefore, great difficulties to en- 
counter. But by bounties and drawbacks, and pro- 
tections and prohibitions, it has been fostered to 
such an extent, that although but 40,000 families 
are engaged in it, they produce nearly as much as 
the domestic exports of the United States, which 
domestic exports, let it be observed, are almost the 
only means we possess to pay for our imports of every 
kind from Europe, Asia, the West Indies, and South 
America. The proceeds of the British silk manu- 
facture in 1822, were 10,000,000/,^ equal to about 
S 45,000,000. Our whole domestic exports for that 
year were only S 49,874,079! !! 

The raw material of the silk manufacture, in 
1822, cost l,000,000/.7 or 84,500,000, leaving a 
clear national gain, on the labour of 40,000 persons, 
of 8 41,500,000, to be divided among the govern- 
ment, the capitalists, and the work people. Thus 

« Holt's Administration of the affairs of Great Britain 
and Ireland, p. 115. 
'Idem, p. 98. 



xii Preface. 

the proceeds of the labours of 40,000 silk manufac- 
turers would pay for above four-fifths of the sur- 
plus of the labours of 10,500,000 persons in the 
United States, and, deducting cotton from our ex- 
ports, fifty per cent, more than the surplus of 
the labours of 9,850,000 ! Was this great national 
benefit produced " in spite of the restrictive sys- 
tem?" Certainly not. 

I fondly hope that a calm review of these facts, 
will satisfy every candid reader, that it is scarcely 
possible to conceive of'a more radical or enormous 
error, than the one so confidently promulgated in 
the Philadelphia Memorial, of the injurious effects, 
produced on the prosperity of Great Britain, by the 
restrictive system; and that her transcendent power 
and greatness can be as fairly traced to that system 
as the cheering light that illumines our globe can 
be traced to the beneficent operation of the resplen- 
dent orb of day rising in all his glory. 

In this question 1 never had, nor have I now, 
any personal interest. I am neither farmer, planter, 
mechanic, manufacturer, merchant, nor trader. 
Even before I retired from business, I never was 
affected, except as a member of the community at 
large, by the pernicious effects of our withering 
polic}^ — and, having arrived at that period of exist- 
ence, when 

" Life can little more supply, 

"Than just to look about us, and to die," 

I trust, that, duly weighing those circumstances, I 
cannot be suspected of any sinister motive. 

I am reckless of the criticisms, however severe, 
and however merited, which may be passed on the 
style, or manner, or arrangement of this little work, 
of which it may be truly said : res negat ornari, 
contenta doceri. In discussions of such important 
subjects, those are considerations wholly unimpor- 



Preface. xiii 

lant. Errors in point of fact, may perhaps have 
escaped me — but none intentional, and I hope, if 
any, none important. Some of my deductions may 
be perhaps strained too far — as frequently occurs 
with those who enter ardently into the defence of 
a cause. The reader will, 'therefore, do well to 
subject them to a severe ordeal. 

There is one point adverted to in the body of 
the address, on which I wish to bestow a few lines 
here. It is the repetition of arguments heretofore 
frequently adduced. This is unavoidable. The 
arguments opposed to the protection of manufac- 
tures, viz. the danger of smuggling — the demorali- 
zation of manufacturing establishments — ^the de- 
struction of commerce and navigation, &c. &c. &c. 
have been adduced repeatedly from day to day in 
speeches, paragraphs, essays, resolutions and me- 
morials. Some of them, during the last session of 
congress, have been placed before the public eye 
one hundred and fifty times. Of about thirty me- 
morials, forty speeches, and above one hundred 
essays and paragraphs on this subject, there was 
scarcely one that did not contain a denunciation of 
the horrors of smuggling — the oppression of " tax- 
ing the many for the benefit of few," &c. &c. 
When old arguments are thus unceasingly reite- 
rated to satiety on one side, can the other be justly 
debarred from rebutting them by old replies } 

July 26th, 1824. M. C, 



ADDRESS, ^x. 



Friends and Fellow Citizens, 

WHEN I undertook to deliver this address, it 
was not with an idea of suggesting any improve- 
ments in agricultural implements — any new species 
of manures — any rules for the time or manner of 
sowing, ploughing, or mowing — or for the cultiva- 
tion of any exotics likely to benefit the farmer. On 
all these points, I freely confess myself incompe- 
tent to descant. My experience and skill in farm- 
ing are both very limited. ISIoreover, such details 
are rendered less essential by the learned and ela- 
borate discourses of some of my predecessors in this 
career, who have united deep research and long ex- 
perience with sound and rational theories, the only 
sure grounds in the inquiry after truth. 

But I deceive myself greatly, if the points to 
which I wish to direct your attention be not of pa- 
ramount importance to those subjects of investiga- 
tion, however deeply interesting to the agriculturist. 
Their object is to lighten his labours and increase 
his crops— mine, to secure certain markets for what 
he does raise. Abstracted from the latter, the for- 
mer greatly sinks in importance and value. Nature 
empties her cornucopia in vain, if, after the farmer 
has gone through his painful labours, he has to de- 
pend for a remuneration on a precarious market, 
liable to the fluctuations of demand and the ruin- 
ous reductions of price, which have been experienced 
in this country three or four times within the last 
nine years. 

Before I proceed any further, let me observe, that 



16 Address delivered before the 

I do not flatter myself, that I shall offer much no- 
velty on this subject. It has been too frequently 
and too laboriously investigated for some years 
past, to afford much hope of that kind of entertain- 
ment. Few novel ideas can be gleaned up on a sub- 
ject which has occupied so much attention. But I 
am, nevertheless, not without a hope, that I shall be 
able to place it in some new and interesting points 
of light, and to add some facts to the mass already 
elicited on this topic. At all events, steering clear 
of those theorks, the result of lively imaginations, 
which, wholly unsupported by experience, only 
" Lead to bewilder — and dazzle to blind," 
1 1 shall support every position I advance by solid, 
P incontrovertible facts, on which I challenge the most 
rigorous scrutiny. 

The grand object of this address is, to establish 
an identity of interests between agriculture and ma- 
nufactures — and the impossibility of inflicting a 
deep or lasting injury on the latter, without the for- 
mer suffering severely. Hence I shall endeavour 
to prove — 

I. That the farming interest has not experienced 
its due share of protection from the government. 

II. That the domestic market for the productions 
of our agriculture is greatly superior to the foreign. 

HI. That, with the exception of cotton, the ex- 
ports of our staples have generally diminished in 
quantity as well as in value since the infancy of our 
government, notwithstanding the unprecedented in- 
crease of our population. 

IV. That the flattering accounts so confidently 
published to the world, of our very extraordinary 
prosperity, are wholly erroneous ; as intense dis- 
tress pervades large and important sections of the 
country. 

V. That oui: present policy operates most de- 



Fhlladelphia Jlgrlcultural Society, IT 

structlvelj on our farmers, by diminishing the num- 
ber of their customers, and increasing that of their 
competitors, and to an extent, which, without care- 
ful examination, appears incredible. 

VI. That nothing can be more iallacious in point 
of reasoning, or more pernicious in its effects, when 
adopted as a system, than the idea so confidently 
held out, that the protection of manufactures would 
operate injuriously on the farmers. 

VII. That the protection of manufactures would 
be beneficial not only to agriculture but to the com- 
mercial interest, and even to the British merchants 
and manufacturers. ^ 

I shall then endeavour to obviate some of the most| 
prevalent and popular objections to the legislative^ 
protection of manufactures. 

I. A^eglect of protecting the farming interest of the 
United States. 

My first position is, that the interests of the faiin- 
ing portion of the community have not received from 
the government that degree of attention and protec- 
tion, to which, from their importance, and the great 
number of tliat description of our citizens, they are 
entitled. 

BreadstufFs, the chief articles produced by this 
class, have been for about seven years excluded from 
domestic consumption by nearly all the nations of 
Europe. During all this time, our government, on 
which tiiey have a valid and indefeasible claim for 
protection and support, has never made the slight- 
est effort, by retaliation or otherwise, to force those 
nations to abandon this system, and to receive in 
payment for their manufactures those articles which 
constitute t!ie main dependence of one-half of our 
entire population, whose interests are thus sacri- 
iired by the existing policy, which operates as the 
B 2 






1 8 Jiddress delivered before the 

bane of the grain-growing states. Nor lias the go- 
vernment made any effort to create a domestic mar- 
ket for the produce thus rejected abroad, a most 
imperious duty, of which the dereliction is unsus- 
ceptible of justification. On the contrary, the ope- 
ration of our system, as shall appear under its pro- 
per head, has been uniformly and steadily to cir- 
cumscribe the domestic market. 

The deleterious etFect of the exclusion of our 
breadstuifs on the farming interest may be perceiv- 
ed by the following statement. The British ports 
were closed against them in Nov. 1817. The occlu- 
sion reduced the value and the quantity of our ex- 
ports of flour most ruinously. 

Exports of flour from the United States, 

Flour. Value. 

18ir - barrels 1,479,198 - 817,751,376 

1818 - 1,157,697 - 11,576,917 

1819 - 750,660 - 6,005,280 

1820 - 1,177,036 - 5,296,064 

1821 - 1,056,119 - 4.298,043 

1822 - '^ 827,265 - 5,103,280 

1823 - 756,246 - 5,057,195 
Let it be observed, that the reduction of price 

affects the whole quantity purchased for home con- 
sumption, amounting probably to about 4,800,000 
barrels per annum. 

Alarming prospects now present themselves to 
the grain-growing states. By recent accounts, 
which appear deserving of credit, we learn, that 
ftour can be delivered on board ship at Dantzic, 
at four dollars per barrel — and that arrangements 
are made there for supplying the West India islands 
on a large scale, which will greatly impair the chief 
market of our farmers. This is all that was want- 
ing to cap tlie climax of their suffering. 



Philadelphia Agrimltural Sociely. 19 

The pernicious inroad on the prosperity of the 
farming interest has not, I repeat, attracted the 
least attention on the part of our government. To 
this neglect, the fostering care bestowed on the na- 
vigating interest, of which I annex two examples, 
out of scores wliich might be adduced, forms a strik- 
ing contrast. 

By the navigation laws of Great Britain, in force 
for nearly two centuries, foreign vessels were pro- 
hibited from entering the ports of her colonies gene- 
rally. The mercantile interest of the United States 
regarded this exclusion as unjust and oppressive, 
and called on the government to interfere to procure 
its abrogation. The government did not hesitate to 
place itself "in an armour and an attitude" of defi- 
ance — to brave the power of Great Britain — and to 
exclude from our ports vessels coming from her 
West India and North American colonies, unless 
those ancient restrictions were abrogated in our 
favour. An act for this purpose was passed, x\pril, 
18, 1818. There was then no alarm about the dan- 
ger of provoking the vengeance of Great Britain, on 
which such an outcry has been recently raised. 
Notwithstanding the parade which is made of" the 
liberality of the present times" — the reprobation 
by " the most celebrated British statesmen" of 
'• the exploded restrictive system" — the determi- 
nation to " cut the cords that tie commerce to the 
*' earth," and all those other soundinf^ phrases about 
which we have had so many " flourishes of trum- 
" pets," Great Britain strenuously resisted this 
measure, resolved to risk all the consequences, in 
support of her restrictions, and thereby inflicted 
severe distress and wretchedness on her colonies, 
which made the most earnest applications to parlia- 
ment for a repeal of tiie obnoxious laws. To atFord 
them some relief, and to counteract the energetic 
measures of our government, free ports were open- 



20 Address delivered before the 

ed in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Bermuda, 
where it was supposed our citizens would gladly 
convey our produce for the supply of the interdicted 
British islands. Congress — determined not to allow 
its measures to be defeated in this indirect mode; 
and also to force Great Britain to abandon her re- 
strictive system — passed a supplementary act on 
the 15th of May, 1820, by which the intercourse 
with those free ports, was placed on the same foot- 
ing as that with the other colonies. Thus defeated, 
Great Britain had no alternative but to devote its 
colonies to ruin, or to abandon a system which had 
J been regarded with as much reverence as a ftiithful 
f* Moslem regards the Koran. This was a bitter pill 
to swallow. It, however, submitted, and repealed 
the system, by an act passed June 24, 1822.^ The 
corresponding repeal on our part, took place on the 
24th of the follovvino; Au";ust. 

^It is remarkable, that this repeal, thus wrung with so 
much difficulty from, and adopted with so ill a grace by, 
the British government, has been adduced in our news- 
papers and in congress, as one of the striking proofs of the 
liberality of the times and of the abandonment of her re- 
strictive system by Great Britain ! So erroneous are the 
views presented to the American nation by our political 
economists ! 

The above statement, however incredible, is borne 
out by the declaration of Mr. P. P. Barbour, who ranks 
among" the foremost opposcrs of the protection of ma- 
nufactures — *' A'^ ithin a few years Great Britain, after 
"successively relaxing the rigour of her double colonial 
"monopoly in her West India Islands, has extended the 
"system of free-ports to almost all those islands; and 
*' the United States are note enabled to impcrt that colonial 
*^ produce in their oxvn s flips, instead of receiving'' it imported 
*^ ill British ships onii; ! ! P^ Mr. Barbour's speech, pag-e 2r. 
Wlien such men as Mr. Barbour fall into such egi/egjous 
and palpable errors on so plain a su^'' <•' '■ " ' -^^ >-" '-■•-^ 
at the mistakes of our legis'ulion ' 



Philadelphia Jlgricultural Society. 21 

This struggle, which lasted above four years, in- 
flicted on the farming interest, engaged in the cul- 
ture or production of those articles calculated for 
the British West Indies, the most severe injury, by 
depriving them of a most important market. The 
suffering fell with peculiar weight on some of the 
ports of Virginia and North Carolina, which greatly 
depended on this trade. Many persons, thus sud- 
denly cut off from their resources, were actually 
ruined. 

These were efforts and sacrifices solely for the 
benefit of the navigating, at the expense of the 
farming interest. They were cheerfully borne with- 
out murmur for above three years. At length, to- 
wards the close of 1821, the people of Virginia, 
writhing under the suffering inflicted by those mea- 
sures, began to remonstrate with congress, against 
a continuance of the system, which, they believed, 
would prove unavailing, as it was apprehended the 
British government would never abandon its restric- 
tions. The following extract from a set of resolu- 
tions adopted by a meeting of the citizens of Nor- 
folk, Dec. 21, 1821, affords some idea of the extent 
of the injury sustained in Virginia by those retalia- 
tory measures. 

" Hesolved, That the act of congress, entitled " an act 
" concerning navigation," passed on the 18th of April, 
** 1818; the act of congress, entitled "an act supplemen- 
*' tary to an act entitled " an act concerning navigation,'* 
" passed on the 15th of May, 1820, so far as tli^y establish 
" the restrictive system, by which British vessels are pro- 
*' hibited from bringing the productions of the British co- 
" lonies into our ports, and taking away those of our coun- 
" try in return; are highly permcious to this Borough and 
" District, destroying our aAnmerce, and injuring all classes 
** of our citizens ,- -ivhile at the same titne, they are coiUrary to 
" the true policy of the United States, operating most une- 
" qually and partially upon different sections and portions of 



22 Address delivered before the 

"the Union, burdeniiig the products of agriculture in a fruit- 
" less attempt to promote the shipping interest, diminishing the 
** revefine, and threatening, in the issue, to produce many great 
*' and lasti)ig evils to the tvhole nation." 

To the Virginia memorials and representations, 
the mercantile interest throughout the United States 
made the most decided opposition. The whole sub- 
ject was referred to a committee of congress, which, 
after an elaborate investigation, made a report re- 
commending a perseverance in the system ; choos- 
ing, on national grounds, to endure temporary suf- 
ferings, however severe, for the sake of permanent 
advantages. The report was adopted. 

It remains to ascertain the extent of the tonnage, 
fur the sake of which these measures, so pernicious 
to our farmers, particularly those of the southern 
states, were adopted. Our vessels have free access 
to the British West India Islands at present, and 
have had for nearly two years. The American ton- 
nage entered inwards from those islands during tlie 
year 1823 was only 73,366 tons, and outwards only 
68,350. To secure the freight of this tonnage to our 
merchants, we sacrificed for above four years the 
sale of a large portion of our produce, and gave en- 
couragement to the farmers of Canada, Nova Sco- 
tia, and New Brunswick, to extend the cultivation 
of rival articles, which will permanently interfere 
•with the interests of our own farmers. 

Again. France, to encourage her navigation, laid 
extra duties on produce imported in foreign ves- 
sels. In this case, as in the former, the energies of 
our government were arrayed in defence of the na- 
vigating interest. An act was passed, May 15, 
1820, imposing a countervailing duty of eighteen 
dollars per ton on French vessels entering the ports 
of the United States. This act remained in force 
for above two years, and greatly circumscribed the 



Philadelphia Agricultural Society. 23 

sales of our produce in France ; as a large portion 
of the direct intercourse between the two countries 
was suspended. After an arduous struggle, and 
considerable negociations, the French government 
was finally obliged, though with great reluctance, 
to repeal its discriminatory duties, which of course 
produced a repeal of cur retaliatory system. 

Let this course of measures be compared with 
the neglect of the interests of the farming portion 
of the nation, and there will be found an incalcula- 
ble difference between them. On the one side the 
most paternal solicitude — on the other, a sovereign 
indilFerence. 

A comparison between this disregard of the in- 
terests of the farmers, and the sensibility dis- 
played respecting those of the cotton and tobacco 
planters, would be equally striking. Among the 
reasons recently urged with most force against the 
protection of manufactures, was the danger of pro- 
voking the wrath of Great Britain, and inducing her 
to avenge herself, by encouraging the culture of 
cotton in Egypt, the Brazils, and South America, 
and of tobacco in the Crimea,^" so as to narrow the 

10 «< If vi-e must not purchase the manufactures of Great 
" Britain, the latter will not purchase our cotton, rice, or 
** tobacco. 

*' 1 appeal to men conversant with the subject, that she 
*' can supply herself m half a dozen or ten years elsewhere ; 
" with rice from the East Indies, cotton from Brazil, and 
*• tobacco from the Crimea. She does not, because she pur- 
« chases the raw material with the produce of her own 
" warehouses : and the trade is mutually gainful." — Judge 
Cooper^ s Tract on the Alteration of the Tariff, p. 14. 

*' The United States must prepare to see the East In- 
" dies, the Brazils, the Black Sea, every quarter of the 
" habitable globe, stimulated by bounty to itself and by 
" restrictions upon us, to take our place in the markets 
*« of Europe and to leave those commodities [cotton and to- 
" bacco] upon our hands V^—FhiladelpMa Memorial. 



24 Jlddress delivered before the 

market for our exports of those staples, one of 
which, at least, that is, cotton, is as essential to her, 
as food for her subjects. And of the other she con- 
sumes only 14,000 hhds. per annum. All the sur- 
plus she takes, beyond that quantity, is for expor- 
tation. 

II. Great superiority of the domestic over the fo- 
reign market. 

Of the population of the United States at present, 
the agriculturists of all descriptions, comprise about 
8,500,000, of whom I assume that about 1,500,000 
are tobacco, sugar, and cotton planters, and 7,000,- 
000 fanners. There are about 1,500,000 persons 
engaged in manufactures and tlie mechanic arts, 
and 500,000 in the learned professions, in com- 
merce, in shopkeeping, and living on their means^ 
&c. The chief of these calculations are predicated 
on the late census. 

The consumption of food and drink 
by the 2,000,000 who purchase those ne- 
cessaries from the farmers, may be esti- 
mated at an average of about 45 dollars 
per annum, which at once affords a S 
market to that interest, of, 90,000,000 

It is difficult to estimate the propor- 
tion of persons depending on manufac- 
tures and the mechanic arts, vv'ho actu- 
ally work at them. One-half of the 
number, or 750,000, are males, of whom 
nearly two-thirds are above 13 years of 
age, when they generally commence 
their apprenticeship. This would give 
500,000 male workers; and it is well 
known that a very large number, pro- 
bably 100,000 females, are employed in 
cotton and some other manufactures, 



Philadelphia Agricultural Society. 9.5 

Brought forward S 90,000,000 

and that very many persons, male and 
female, belonging to the farming class, 
are employed by manufacturers. But I 
will only assume 500,000 work people, 
male and female, and that they consume 
of timber, hemp, flax, cotton, hides, 
skins, tallow, fuel, &c. &c. an average 
of 66f cents per day, or four dollars per 
week, which amounts to - - 104,000,000 

Making a total of the domestic mar- 
ket, of S 194,000,000 

Now what have we to set against this, of the fo- 
reign market, which, by some of our statesmen, is 
regarded as almost alone worthy of attention, and 
which costs us an enormous expense for fleets, for 
foreign ministers, &c. and which involved us in an 
expensive and perilous warfare ? The domestic 
exports of the last year, were as follow : 

Cotton $20,445,520 

Tobacco 6,282^672 

Proceeds of the forest — skins, and 
furs, naval stores, pot and pearl $ 
ashes, lumber, &.c. - - 4,498,911 
Vegetable and animal food 10,513,855 

Other agricultural productions, viz. 
indigo, flaxseed, hops, &,c. - 404,679 

15,417,445 

Manufactures - .- - - . - 2,357,527 

Proceeds of the sea 1,658,224 

Uncertain , - 994,020 

Total $47,155,408 



Thus the following facts appear : — 
1. That the foreign is not one-fourth of the do- 
mestic market. 



26 •Address delivered before the 

2. That three-fifths of our exports are raw mate- 
rials, imperiously necessary for the employment of 
the subjects of the nations by which they are re- 
ceived. 

3. That the farmers, properly so called, (in con- 
tradistinction to the cotton and tobacco planters,) 
who comprise about 7,000,000 of our population, 
have little or no interest in our foreign markets, 
beyond §15,417,445, or about §2.20 per head — 
whereas they are interested in the domestic market 
to the amount of above S 190,000,000, or about S 27 
per head. 

These calculations do not pretend to critical ex- 
actness, which in this case is unattainable — but that 
they are substantially correct, and that no modifi- 
cation or alteration of which they may be suscepti- 
ble, can materially affect the deductions from them, 
I feel perfect confidence. 

III. Diminution of our exports. 
The period for fourteen years immediately pre- 
ceding the year 1789, had paralized the industry of 
the nation, exhausted its resources, and arrested 
it in its career to prosperity. From 1775 to 1782, 
hostilities had overspread the land, with all the 
usual characteristics of horror and devastation 
which accompany civil wars. From 1782 to 1789, 
when the new constitution went into operation, a 
peace, more deleterious, if possible, than war it- 
self, succeeded. Immense importations, far beyond 
the value of the surplus produce of the country, had 
taken place, and spread impoverishment and dis- 
tress throughout the nation. The specie, of which 
immense sums had been imported during the war, 
in the shape of foreign loans, and funds to pay the 
armies of Great Britain and France, was exported 
in 1783, 4, and 5, to pay for the manufactures of 



Philadelphia Jlgricultiiral Society. 27 

Europe and Asia.^* Our own manufactures were 
crushed, and our manufacturers ruined. The 
importers and merchants generally underwent the 
same fate, and the farmers followed in their train. 
The major part of our citizens were in debt, and 
few had the means of payment.^^ To rescue them 

" " Goods were imported to a much greater amount than 
«« cotdd be consumed or paid for." — Minot's History of the 
Insurrection in Massachusetts, p. 2. 

*• On openin,^ their ports, an immense quantity of foreign 
« merchandise tvas introdticed into the country^ and they were 
*• tempted by the sudden cheapness of imported goods, and by 
*' their own wants, to purchase beyond their capacities for 
•'payment." — MarshaVs Life of IVashington, V.p. 75. 

" Silver and gold, -which had circulated largely in the latter 
** years of the war, tvere returning, by the usual course of 
*^ trade, to those countries, luhence large quantities of neces" 
** sary and 'unnecessary commodities had been imported." — 
Belknap's History of New Hampshire, H. p. 356. 

" The usual means of remittance by articles the grotvth of 
*' the country, was almost annihilated, and little else than specie 
** remained, to answer the demands incurred by importations. 
*' The mojiey, of cotirse, was drawn off; and this being inade- 
** quale to the purpose of discharging the whole amount offo- 
** reign contracts, the residue was chiefly sunk by the bank- 
" ruptcies of the importers." — Minot's History of the Insur- 
rection in Massachusetts, p. 13. 

" Laws were passed, by which property of every kind was 
'^ made a legal tender in the payment of debts, though paya- 
*' ble according to contract in gold or silver. Other laws 
«' installed the debt, so that of sums already due, only a 
" third, and afterwards only a fifth, was annually recover- 
" able in the courts of law." — Belknap's History of JVew 
Hampshire, II. p. 352. 

12 " The bonds of men whose competency to pay their 
" debts was unquestionable, could not be negoclated but 
** at a discount of thirty, forty, andffty per centum : real 
*^ property was scarcely vendible ; and sales of any articles 
** for ready money could be made only at a ruinous loss. 
" The prospect of extricating the country from those em- 
" barrassments was by no means flattering. The mass of 



28 Address delivered before the 

from impending destruction, paper money was 
emitted — tender and instalment laws enacted — the 
proceedings of the Courts of Common Pleas ar- 
rested — and the pillars of society shaken; for a 
most serious insurrection, the consequence of ge- 
neral distress, succeeded, which, by the want of 
talent and energy on the part of the insurgents, 
and the promptitude and patriotism of the friends of 
order, was prevented from overthrowing the govern- 
ment, and giving the reins to anarchy and despot- 
ism. Such w^e the bitter fruits of uncontrolled im- 
portations at tin early period of our history. 

This is a brief sketch of the melancholy state of 
affairs, previous to the year 1790, which I propose 
to compare with the year 1823. In the former year, 
the nation was in its infancy, recovering from the 
calamities of the preceding period of fourteen years. 
Peace reigned in Europe and the West Indies. We 
enjoyed none of those dazzling, but delusive ad- 
vantages, which the subsequent revolutionary wars 
conferred on us. The year 1823, on the contrary, 
was preceded by eight years of profound peace, su- 
perabundant harvests, and the enjoyment of every 
natural, moral, and political advantage, which a 
great statesman, in the widest range of his fancy, 

*< national labour and national -wealth, was consequently di- 
*<7ni?H".9AeJ."-*]Marshal's Life of Washington, V. p. 88. 

*' Property, ivhe7i brought to sale under execution, sold at so 
*♦ lotv a price as frequently mined the debtor idthout paying 
" the creditor. A disposition to resist the laws became com- 
" mon : assembUes were called oftener and earlier than 
" the constitution or laws required." — Hamsay's S. Caro- 
lina, II. p. 428. 

" In every part of these states, the scarcity of money is 
"so great, or the difficulty of paying debts has been so 
" common, that riots and combinatio7is have been formed in 
^' many places, and the operations of civil government have 
" been suspended." — Dr. Hugh Williamson. 



Fhiladelphia Agricultural Societij. 29 

could require, to insure the highest degree of pros- 
perity and happiness, national and individual, of 
^vhich, in this sublunary state, we are susceptible. 
The latter year, therefore, ouglit to exhibit a tran- 
scendent superiority over the former, flow lament- 
ably erroneous such a calculation would be, will ap- 
pear from the following appalling picture. 

Exports of our chief staples, except cotton, in the 
years 1790 and 1823. 



.. 1 


1790. 


1823. [Increase. 


Decrease. 


Floui- 


bbls. 


724,023 


756,702 


32,079 




Wheat 


bush. 


1,124,456 


4,272 




1,120,184 


Indian corn 


bush. 


2,102,137 


749,034 




1,353,103 


Rice 


tic re. 


100,845 


101,365 


520 




Shingles 


No. 


67,331,115 


40,383,000 




26,948,115 


I'obacco 


hhds. 


118,460 


99,009 




19,451 


Talk pitch 


bbls. 


93,942 


45,032 




48,910 


Staves and 












heading 


(eet. 


36,402,301 


18,677,000 




17,725,301 


Indigo 


lbs. 


612,119 


2,9'JO 


1 609,129! 



[n the year 1790 our population was 3,929,326. 
It is at present about 10,500,000 — being an increase 
of about 165 per cent. According to all rational 
calculations, there ought to be a great increase in 
the exportable surpluses of our great staples; as a 
family of ten persons ought to produce 150 per cent, 
more than one of four. But it appears, on the con- 
trary, that far from advancing, we have greatly re- 
trograded, for, (although there is a small increase in 
flour and rice,) it appears that we exported in 1823, 
far less wheat, Indian corn, shingles, pitch and tar, 
staves and heading, and indigo — and also less 
tobacco than we did in 1790. This is a truly mor- 
tifying view, and conl:asts strongly with the florid 
descriptions of our great and growing prosperity, 
on which, to serve the purposes of the moment, our 
orators descant so eloquently. As there was no 
c 2 



GO Address delivered before the 

discrimination made between our foreign and do- 
mestic exports at that period, I cannot state the 
diminution in the value of the latter — but it must 
obviously be very considerable. The discrimination 
began in 1796, when our population was about 
4,750,000. Our domestic exports in that year were 
S 40,764,097, or about S 8.50 per head. Last year 
they were §47,155,408, or about 4.60 per head of 
our whole population. Here is a most lamentable 
falling oft'! But this is not the whole of the evil. 
In 1796, we exported only 6,108,729 lbs. of cotton, 
value about g 1,500,000 — whereas in 1823 we ex- 
ported 173,723,270 lbs. value g 20,445,520. The 
cultivators of cotton in 1796, were probably about 
20,000. They are now about 650,000. Deducting 
these numbers from the population, and the value 
of cotton from the exports, it will exhibit a falling 
off, which probably no nation has ever exceeded in 
the same space of time. 

1796. 



Total population 4,750,000 
Engag-ed in cot- 
ton culture - 20,000 



Kemain 



- 4,730,000 



Total domestic 

exports $ 40,764,097 

Export of cotton 1,500,000 



All other domes- 
tic exports $39,264,097 



182f 



lotal population 10,500,000 
Engaged in cot- 
ton culture 650,000 



Remain 



9,850,000 



Total domestic 

exports $47,155,408 

Export of cot- 
ton - 20,445,520 



All other do- 
mestic ex- 
ports - $26,709,888 



Thus, that part of our population not engaged in 
the culture of cotton, exported in 1796 at the ratt 



Philadelphia Agricultural Society. 51 

of SS^^w P^^ hesi(!^ — whereas last year, they export- 
ed only SS^Vo* Ponder well, my fellow citizens, 
on this astounding fact, which, alone, would be suf- 
ficient to seal the condemnation of the withering 
system we pursue. 

To- add to the distress and mortification arising 
from this view of our aftairs, it is to be observed, 
that reduced as is the quantity of our exports, the 
foreign markets are almost every where glutted 
with them. The accounts received from the West 
Indies, South America, and Gibraltar, state that our 
flour is often sold for the mere cost, losing all the 
charges.^^ The quantity of our tobacco in Europe 
at the close of the last year was 75,000 hhds. being 
10,000 more than one year's consumption.^* In 
Great Britain there were about 31,000 hhds. al- 
though the annual consumption is only 14,000. 
The stock in Amsterdam was 14,186 hhds. whereas 

13 Since this address was delivered, some important facts 
have come to light, on the subject of the flour trade of 
this country. On the 31st of August, there were 64,500 
barrels of American flour in bond in Liverpool, the price 
of which was 20 to 2-2s. equal to §4.45 a $4.89. Deduct- 
ing the expense of freight, commission, cartage, insurance, 
interest, &c. Sec. these prices would net from §3.87^ to 
^ 4. This flour probably cost in the United States at least 
$5 io$ 5.75. Here is a loss of about 20 to 28 per cent. 
Further, Rathbone, Brothers & Co. in their price current 
of the above date, state that ** Baltic flour noiv rates higher 
**ihan American.''^ 

11 " Tobacco is very unsaleable, and lower tjian we have 
*' ever before known it. The exports from the United States 
** hwve so overivhehned every market in Europe, that there is 
" absolutely no outlet for exportation from this 'country ^ and 
*' no prospect of the stock on hand being consumed in it. Jf'e 
'' have upwards o/" 31,000 hogsheads in Britain and Ireland, 
-.I'liiht the consumption does not exceed 14,000 hogsheads ! 
' The stock on the continent is estimated at 44,000, mak- 
ing u total -took in Europe of 75^000 hogsheads, benig 



52 Jlddress delivered before the 

the last year's consumption was only 10,353. The 
stock of United States cotton on hands in London, 
Liverpool, and Glasgow was 199,745 bales, where- 
as the consumption of last year, was only 331,800 
— thus there was on hands nearly eight months 
consumption. It is not therefore wonderful, that 
the prices of those staples are so perniciously re- 
duced, the production so constantly keeping aiiead 
of the consumption. It is worthy of notice that 
though the annual consumption of our tobacco in 
Europe is only about 65,000 hhds. our export last 
year was no less than 99,009! I|ow immensely 
different onr policy from that of the Dutch in ''oldcn 
time !" Whenever the crop of spices was too abun- 
dant for the demand, they destroyed the surplus, to 
prevent the reduction of prices.'^ Whereas the 
uniform tendency of our policy is to increase pro- 
duction, without any chance of increasing consump- 
tion. 

This important subject cannot be too minutely 
investigated, as a correct view of it ought to have a 
powerful bearing on the welfare and happiness of 

♦' 10,000 more than one year's consumption ! Under snch 
** circumstunces, immediate improvement in this article 
" would appear impossible.'* Curwen & Ilu^drly, Liver- 
pool, Dec. 31, 1823. 

" Tobacco is imcoimnojxly fat and heavy ^ and the few sales 
" effected are at very lo7v rates^ e7>en under my (juotationSy -when 
" pressed on the 7narfcet.^^ — Daniel Buchanan, Liverpool, 
14th February, 1824. 

'5 " I remember one of their seamen newly landed out 
" of their East Indy Fleet in the year 69, upon discourse 
*'in a boat between Delf and Leyden, said he had seen 
*' before he came away, three heaps of nutmegs burnt at 
" a tiaie, each of which was more than a small church 
*• could hold, wiiich he pointed at in a village that v, as in 
** sight." — Sir Win. Temple''s ohsc\Tations on (he Provinces 
of the J\''etherland^,pnje 219. 



British. 
19,102,220= $85,954,990 
43,558,490 = $ 196,013,925 


American. 
$ 40,764,097 
§48,492,658 


POPULATION. 

British. 
11,000,000 - 
14,000,000 - 


American. 

4,750,000 

- 10,500,000 


EXPORTS PER HEAD. 

British. 
$7.75 
14 - - - 


American. 

§8.58 

4.60 



Philadelphia Agricultural Society, S3 

this nation. I will therefore submit a comparison 
ofthe relative situation of the United States and 
Great Britain as regards population and domestic 
exports at two difterent periods. 

DOMESTIC EXPORTS. 

1796. 
1822. 



1796. 
1822. 



1796. 
1822. 

It is impossible to avoid beinji; struck with this 
appalling view of our affliirs, which must make the 
heart ache of every man possessed of true Ameri- 
can feeling. Our domestic exports in 1796 were 10 
per cent, more per head than those of Great Bri- 
tain. They are now 66 per cent, less ! The amount 
of exports, (notwithstanding the wonderful augmen- 
tation in the article of cotton,) has not increased 
SO per cent, although our population has increased 
120 per cent. I Our system is an incubus, which, 
squatting over the bounties and blessings of nature, 
paralizes and smothers the national energies. While 
Great Britain, after an exhausting warfiire, of un- 
exampled expenditure, and labouring under im- 
mense disadvantages, has nearly doubled her ex- 
ports per head, we have decreased ours, to little 
more than one-half per head of what they were in 
1796 ! And let it be observed, that the diminution 
is as well in the quantity as in the market value ! 
Having compared the domestic exports and popu- 



34 ^Address delivered before the 

lation of the United States with those of Great 
Britain, I shall add a comparison with those of 
Ireland, one of the most ill-governed and wretched 
countries in Europe. In the year ending Jan. 5, 
18^23, with a population of 7,000,000, her domestic 
exports were no less than the value of ^6,771,796 
Irish, equal to S 27,128,900, being more than the 
domestic exports, during last year, of Maine, New 
Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Isl- 
and, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Dela- 
ware, Maryland, Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Ten- 
nessee, and all those parts of the other states not en- 
gaged in the culture of cotton, containing at least 
9,850,000 people, wholly free from tithes, and 
almost from taxes and rents, with land in fee sim- 
ple in many places for less than the tithes in Ireland ! 
Her exports were at the rate of S3.87 per head — 
while those of the states specified were, as we have 
seen, only S2.71 I Her export of linen, almost 
wholly the production of Ulster, containing only 
about 2,000,000 of souls, was §11,900,050, being 
very nearly half that of the states above specified, 
and more than a fourth part of our total exports. 

Again. In 1818, the manufacture of cottons in 
the city and neighbourhood of Glasgow, with a po- 
pulation of about 200,000 inhabitants, was £ 5,200,- 
000, equal to 8 23,000,000, one-half of which was 
exported. ^'^ Thus the exports of 200,000 people in 

16 " Although no positive estimate can be made, of the 
'•' amount of the cotton manufacture in Glasgow, it has 
*' been computed by those who are well quahfied to judge, 
" that dunng the year 1818, there were 105,000,000 yards 
"of cotton cloth manufactured in Glasgow and neighbour- 
*' hood, the value of which could not be less than £ 5,- 
" 200,000, and that nearly one-half of these goods were 
" exported. Connected with the city, there are 16 works 
** for weaving by power, which contain 2,380 looms, pro- 



Philadelphia Jgricultural Sociefy. 35 

Scotland, of the single article of cotton goods, ex- 
clusive of all the rest of their productions, were 
above two-fifths of those of 9,850,000 people in the 
United States ! And there is not the least doubt 
but they have greatly increased since the year 1818. 

IV. State of the J\*ation. 
We have been stunned with reiterated assertions 
of the very extraordinary and unparalleled prospe- 
rity of this country ; and, in spite of a host of strong 
opposing facts, there are thousands of our citizens 
who implicitly believe those assertions to be lite- 
rally true.^^ Nothing is more pernicious to a pa- 
tient, whether a nation or an individual, when la- 
bouring under serious disorders, than a belief of the 
existence of robust health' — and the more morbid 
the state, the greater the danger of the error. This 
point, therefore, demands a severe scrutiny, which, 
although an ungracious office, I venture to under- 

"ducing- 8,200 pieces of cloth weeklr ; and it appears 
"from a late investigation, that tliere are about 32,000 
"hand-looms." — liise and Progress of the City of Glasgow ^ 
page 95. 

i'^ " Mr, Webster was so happy, as entirely to differ with 
"tlie speaker in the picture of intense distress which lie 
*' had drawn. Where ivas this extensive misery? tvho has 
" heard the groans of this intense distress? He believed tliat 
'« THE COUNTRY WAS MiVER IN A HIGHER STATE 
••■ OF SOLID PROSPERITY. Was there ever a time ivhen 
*' the fruits of the earth ivere cultivated ~.dth more success ? 
•* There is no famine i?i the land — 710 excessive taxation. In 
*' all the great essentials of human life^ in the quality and 
" quantity of subsistejice, in all the quantity and quality of 
''clothing, there is abundance, and LABOUR IS SURE 
« OF ITS REWARD. How then can it be a country of 
*' intense distress ? The picture is the result of a highly 
*' charged imagination." — Mr. Webster's speecii as orig-i- 
nally reported. 



36 Mdress delivered before the 

take, because a serious conviction of disorder is a 
necessary preliminary to the application of any re- 
medies. 

I do not pretend that distress or sufFerino;is uni- 
versal. In no country, even in Turkey, Poland, or 
Ireland, is that the case. And with the immense 
advantages the United States enjoy, the worst form 
of government ever devised, and the most grinding 
administration, could not prevent large portions of 
our citizens from being prosperous. All I contend 
for is, that entire sections of the country, and en- 
tire classes of our citizens, suffer intense distress — 
distress which, under our very favourable circum- 
stances, nothing but an unwise policy could inflict. 

I shall call in as evidences, gentlemen hostile to 
the policy I advocate, to whom, of course, its ene- 
mies cannot object — 

Mr. Tatnal, in {lis never-to-be-forgotten tirade 
against the tariff, stated that '' poverty was wearintf 
" Georgia to the bojie.^^ 

Mr. Garnet, in drawing a picture of the situa- 
tion of Virginia, stated that '^ its population is 
" driven into distant lands^ and reduced to beggary 
" — and that desolation is spread over the couniri/.^^ 

Mr. Macon in congress stated the distress of 
North Carolina, as not unlike that of Virginia. 

A memorial of the citizens of Charleston, lately 
presented to congress, gives a most melancholy 
picture of the situation of South Carolina — 

** The effects produced'* [by the reduction of the price 
of cotton,] " are deplorable in the extreme. Property of all 
*' kijids is depreciated beyond example. A feeling of gloomy 
*' despondence is beginning to prevail every -where in the lower 
*'co7mtry. ESTATES ARE SACRIFICED TO PAY 
"THE LAST INSTALMENTS ON THE BONDS 
"GIVEN FOR THE PURCHASE MONEY. J\''obody 
** seems disposed to buy, ivhat every body is anxious to sell, at 
^^ any price.''* 



Philadelphia Jigricultural Society, S7 

There is no part of the world which enjoys 
greater natural advantages than Louisiana. Yet she 
undergoes her full portion of the distress and suffering 
inflicted on her sister states, by our mistaken po- 
licy. According to the declaration in congress of 
J. S. Johnson, Esq. one of her representatives, she 
is " struggling with her debts — loss of crops— fall 
" of prices — and depreciation of properly, ^^ To re- 
lieve her citizens from their intense distresses, she 
has recently incorporated a bank, with a capital of 
8 4,000,000. It has five branches, each with a ca- 
pital of S 200,000. A large portion of the loans are 
intended for the accommodation of planters as well 
as merchants. 

It may be said, that " the loss of crops," has no 
connexion with the policy of our government. This 
I admit. But " the loss of crops" would have raised 
instead " of reducing prices," but for the excess of 
production oyer demand, which is the obvious con- 
sequence of that policy. 

I might here close the account as regards the 
southern section of the union. These statements 
settle the question beyond cavil. But I cannot re- 
frain from citing one more unimpeachable autho- 
rity respecting the state of that portion of the na- 
tion. 

Mr. Carter, one of the representatives of the 
state of South Carolina, drew the following heart- 
rending portrait of the situation of the seven most 
southern states: — 

" The prostration of their foreign markets has spread 
" over the face of the south a general pervading gloom. In all 
" that region -which stretches itself from the shores of the Po- 
*' tomac to the Gulf of Mexico ^ where all the arts of civilized 
« life once triumphed, THE ARM OF INDUSTRY IS NOW 
"PARALIZED. LARGE AND AMPLE ESTATES, 
« ONCE THE SEATS OF OPULENCE, WHICH SUP- 
-' PORTED THEIR PROPRIETORS IN AFFLUENCE 



S8 Mdress delivered before the 

"AND COMFORT, ARE NOW THROWN OUT TO 
« WASTE AND DECAY." 

Here we are on the horns of a dilemma. Either 
those gentlemen, whose names are given, have been 
guilty, in the face of the world, of stating down- 
right falsehoods to deceive congress and the entire 
nation — which cannot for a moment be supposed— 
or else the assertions of the great prosperity of the 
country are utterly destitute of foundation. The 
states embraced in Mr. Carter's declaration, with 
Kentucky and Tennessee, both in nearly the same 
situation, in 1820 embraced 4,330,640 souls, being 
above two-fifths of the entire population of the na- 
tion. And I presume it would not be more prepos- 
terous to assert that an individual, who laboured 
under a pulmonary consumption, a cancer in his 
breast, or a desperate liver complaint, was in a high 
state of health, than that a nation enjoyed a state 
of " solid prosperity," of which one-third was 
in the deplorable condition depicted by Mr. Carter, 
even if no distress or suffering existed elsewhere, 
which is very far indeed from being the case, as I 
am prepared to prove. 

There are in the city of Philadelphia about 7000 
females, many of them widows and orphans of 
persons formerly in a high degree of prosperity, 
who are obliged to work as seamstresses and taylor- 
esses, of whom the most skilful, unencumbered with 
children, cannot earn more than a quarter dollar 
per day, and those with children, or unskilful, not 
more than from 75 cents to one dollar per week.^^ 

13 The following queries were sent to the Rev. Mr. 
Benjamin Allen, one of the most active members of the 
Provident Society in Philadelphia, in order to ascertain 
the number and state of the persons employed by them. 
His answers are annexed. 

1, How many persons were employed last winter by 



Philadelphia Agricultural Society, S9 

There are in the same city about 4000 paupers, 
1500 in the alms-house, and 2500 supported at their 
dwellings, of whom one-third are able and willing 
to work, but cannot procure employment. In the 
city of New York, there are, according to a report 
recently laid before the legislature, 9,556 paupers, 
of whom one-sixth are permanent. It is more than 
probable that above one-third of the whole, particu- 
larly of the females, are able and willing to work, 
if they could procure employment. In the state, 
there are, 22,111 paupers, of whom 6,896 are per- 
manent. 

For the suffering state of navigation and com- 
merce, I refer to the speech of Mr. Webster, as 
originally reported^^ — to the statement in the Me- 

the society? Answer. About 1250 women, and 150 
children. 

2. What wages did they earn per week generally ? 
Answer. From 75 cents to a dollar. 

3. Were there many of theni widows and orphans of 
persons who had seen prosperous times ? Answer. Num- 
bers. 

A similar application to the Female Hospitable Society, 
last autumn, produced the melancholy information, that 
there were 1500 females out of employment, and desir- 
ous to obtain work — and that the society employed about 
500 in the course of the year. 

»9 " The navigatton of the country is strvg-gling-for its breath. 
*' It is hang^ing by a hair. And if g-entlemen wish to add 
" burdens to the falling, to press down the oppressed, the 
" way is open to th'em." 

"He again depicted the present distress of the navi- 
" gating interest, (hir ri7>ers are croxvdod ivith ships seeking 
*'for cargoes, and, -ivhen freicrhts are obtained, THEY 
" SCARCELY PAY THE LEA^ST POSSIBLE EXPENSE 
"OF NAVIGATION. It is impossible that this interest 
" can suffer any further depression." — Mr, Webster's 
Speech a^- originally repuridd. 



40 Address delivered before the 

morial of the Chamber of Commerce of Philadel- 
phia^o — and to the Memorial of the Directors of 
the Philadelphia Bank.-^ 

Manufactures, except those of coarse yarns and 
cotton, are greatly depressed. One-half of the esta- 
blishments for the manufacture of woollen goods, 
throughout Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Penn- 
sylvania are closed — and many of the proprietors 
ruined. 22 

20 "How little manufactares partake of the evils undet^ 
*' ivhich the commerce and agriculture of the country now 
*' suffer, need not be remarked, 

*' Commerce has confessedly suffered more than any other 
•* branch of itidustrt/y by the events of recent years. It has 
«« borne its disasters patientlv. IT IS NOW JUST 
''CREEPING INTO LIFE.»~Memorial of the Philadel- 
phia Chamber of Commerce. 

21 " The mercantile embarrassments of the country for some 
" years past, have been so seriously felt by persons of all ranks 
"in society, and THE MISERIES OF POVERTY HAVE 
"INVADED THE FIRE-SIDES OF SO MANY OF 
« OUR RESPECTABLE FELLOW CITIZENS, that it 
*« could scarcely be expected that an institution whose 
" prosperity is dependent upon the punctuality of its cus- 
"tomers, should be exempt from its portion of the calami- 
" ties, which have been so sensibly felt by the whole com- 
**munity." — Extract from a JMemorial presented by the Di- 
rectors of the Philadelphia Sa7ik, to the legislature of Perm- 
sylvania, dated Feb. 20, 1823. 

22 A memorial of the Woollen Manufacturers of Provi- 
dence, R. I. presented to congress at its last session, 
stated — 

*' That large sums have been invested in mills and ma- 
** chinery for manufacturing wool in the State of Rhode 
"Island and its vicinity, and numerous workmen have 
*' derived employment from their operation. That during 
" the late war with Great Britain, these manufactories 
"were principally established, when they afforded, even 
"in their infancy, great relief to the wants of the coun- 
«« try — they have since, without protection, been gradu- 
"ally increasing, until EXCESSIVE IMPORTATIONS 



Philadelphia .Agricultural Society. 41 

For the situation of a large portion of the farm- 
ing interest, 1 refer to the following statement, ex- 
tracted from a memorial of the fanners of Uensse- 
laer County, N. Y. 

" There is^at this time, and there has been for several 
" years, an over-supply of the products of agriculture— they 
*' have ghUted the makets of the loorld. The ivant of a fo- 
*' reign market has not been supplied at home ,- for our own 
** producers have increased in afar g-reater ratio than our 
" consumers, and the consequences have been, in this 
*' part of the country, A UNIVERSAL DEPRESSION OF 
"PRICES, DEPRECIATION OF THE VALUK OF 
"LAND, A SLUGGISH CIRCULATION, GENERAL 
♦' EMBA RRASSMENT, FREQUENT SHERIFFS' SALES 
" AND RUIN." 

Mr. Clay has stated the melancholy and indubit- 
able fact, that " farmers have successive unihrashed 
'' crops of grain, perishing in their barns for want 
'' of a market, "^^ 

Mr. Carter, of South Carolina, drew an appal- 
ling picture of the situation of the farming interest 
in the middle states, with which I shall close tiiese 
melancholy views :~- 

"The farmer of the grain-!;crowhig- states wi]? tei? ycir, 
*^ ih'Ai he has large annncd surpluses of grcuji, tvhich he is 
" doomed year after year to see rot and perish on his hands ; 

'^OF FOREIGN MANUFACTURED AVOOLLEN S 
"HAVE FINALLY DISCOURAGED FURTHER IN- 
"VESTMENT OF CAPITAL. From this cause it is 
" estimated that THE OPERATION OF MORE THAN 
"ONE HALF OF THESE MILLS IS AT PRESENT 
"SUSPENDED! In some instances tlie macliinery for 
" wool has been laid aside, and other machinery employed 
"in place of it. Those, who, in the ho])e of some favour- 
"able change, si ill continvie the manufacture of wool, 
"HAVE GLOOMY PROSPECTS BEFORE THEM !" 

A memorial to the same ettect, was presented by the 
same class in Boston. The situation of the woollen ma- 
nufacturers throughout Pennsylvania, is exactly similar to 
that of those in Rhode Island. 



42 M dress delivered before the 

" that it is to no purpose that he applies himself to the 
" diligent cultivation of a fruitful soil ; that each return of 
" atti 1171171 fuels his barns filled, to overflowing, with abun- 
*' dance, but that it is all useless, nay, worse than useless 
** to him : for his well-stored barns stand continually be- 
**fore his eyes, as tormeiit'ni^ memorials of his labours frus- 
** tratcd, Olid the boimty of his f elds most cruelly -luasted. He 
"may represent his labours as equalling', in their fertility 
*^ and vexatious disappointment, the fabled toils of Sysi- 
" phus himself. THE DEPLORABLE ACCURACY OF 
"SUCH A PICTURE WILL NOT BE DISPUTED." 

Who can reflect on sijch a horrible state of affairs 
in a country so transcendently blest as this is, 
without sighing over the impolicy of our national 
councils — which, from a blind and illiberal jealousy 
of the manufacturers and mechanics, comprising 
one-seventh part of our entire population, and one- 
fourth part of the population of the states from 
Maine to Maryland inclusive, withers and blights 
and blasts the choicest bounties of nature ! It may 
be fairly questioned, whether there ever was a na- 
tion, possessed of half the advantages we enjoy, 
which, without war, famine, or pestilence, exhibited 
such scenes as are here depicted by Mr. TatnaU 
Mr. Garnet and Mr. Carter. It is to be hoped that 
until a radical change takes place in the affairs of 
the country, we shall never again be mocked with 
the very erroneous statements of national prosperi- 
ty, which, in the broad, unqualified sense assumed 
by our writers and orators, are mere " ivaking 
" dreams,^^ calculated, by throwing a veil over the 
disordered state of our affairs, to prevent any at- 
tempt at relief. 

Few of our statesmen take an enlarged and com- 
prehensive view of the state of the country. They 
cast their eyes on particular spots, from which they 
undertake to infer the situation of the whole. One 
sees a high degree of prosperity in New York — an- 



rhiladelphia Jlgricultural Society. 43 

other in Boston — and a third in Rhode Island — and 
hence they pronounce with confidence on tlie whole 
of the U. States. A member of the senate deeply in- 
terested in the Waltham Factory, and knowing that 
it has divided 25 per cent, per annum, hence assert- 
ed that the manufacturers were " the most thriving 
*' and prosperous part of the community." Where- 
as, in his own neighbourhood, bankruptcy had swal- 
lowed up a large portion of the woollen manufac- 
turers, and the remainder were in the most depress- 
ed state. It is needless to comment on the radical 
errors of such a mode of reasoning, and the ruinous 
consequences that must arise from predicating there- 
on a scheme of policy for a great and rising nation. 
Among the melancholy facts with which our ;|m- 
nals abound, proving the paralizing and destructive 
tendency of our policy, there is none speaks in 
plainer language, than the records of the land office. 
Immense sales haa been made of the western lands 
on credit. The balance due on the SOth of March, 
1820, was no less than S 21,908,099, above one- 
fifth part of the national debt. Such were the im- 
poverishment and distress of the western country, 
that the purchasers were wholly unable to pay the 
instalments, as they became due. It would have 
been dangerous, in the suffering state of that coun- 
try, to have attempted to enforce payment. To re- 
lieve the delinquents, an act was passed, bearing 
the above date, which repealed that clause of the 
original act, by which a failure of the payment of 
any instalment, as it became due, incurred a for- 
feiture of the previous instalments. This act was 
to be in force for one year. At the expiration of 
this period, the purchasers laboured under equal 
difficulty. There being no prospect of a change in 
the affairs of the western world, an act was passed, 
March 2, 1821, authorizing the delinquent pur- 



44 Jlddress delivered before the 

cliascrs to surrender such portions of the land as 
they might judge proper — relinquishing all claim to 
the interest that had accrued — and reducing the 
price of public lands in future, from two dollars on 
credit, to one dollar twenty-five cents cash. For 
those who did not chose to relinquish their lands, 
tlie periods of payment were prolonged to four, six, 
and eight years. The sum, of which the payment 
is thus postponed till 1829, is no less than S 6,257,- 
480! There were 2,132,881 acres relinquished, 
Gu which was due, S ",981,940, being above 
eighteen months interest on the national debt! It 
is easy to calculate the extent of the injury sustain- 
ed by the government by these operations, the ob- 
vious result of our system. The loss by the reduc- 
tion of the price of the lands alone, is far more than 
the whole of our national debt. And this reduction 
has proportionably diminished the value of all the 
lands in the western country. 

V. Femicloiis operation of our present policy vpon 
the agricultitnd interest. 

Excessive importations of manufactures, sold at 
auction at reduced prices, whereby our market^i are 
glutted, and our citizens deprived of sale for their 
productions, or obliged to sell them at or below 
cost, are circumstances of frequent occurrence, and 
have been from the commencement of our govern- 
ment. That in consequence great numbers of our 
manufacturers have been bankrupted, and have 
tlierefore betaken themselves to farming, is too well 
known to require detail. 

This operates as a two-edged sword on agricul- 
ture, which is thereby not only deprived of so 
many customers, for food, drink, and raw materials 
-—but finds those customers converted into rivals, 
who increase the quantity of produce, diminish the 



Philadelphia Jigricultural Society, 45 

number of purchasers, and of course lower the 
prices. 

A favourite doctrine with our statesmen for 
thirty -five years, has ^eii to buy abroad what could 
be had cheaper than at home, regardless of the ruin 
thus entailed on the manufacturers. Whenever this 
class made application to congress for relief, they 
were told to " go back^^^ meaning to the western 
wilds. This was a panacea for all their evils. 

In consequence of this system, thus forcing our 
citizens to abandon their regular avocations, and de- 
vote themselves to the culture of the soil, there is pro- 
bably a greater proportion of our citizens agricultur- 
ists than of any other nation in the civilized world. 
This is the root of all the evils of the country, as it • 
destroys the proper distribution of labour, the grand 
secret to promote national prosperity. According 
to the late census, 83 per cent, of our population 
is engaged in agriculture. Whereas in Great Bri- 
tain there are but 33. About fifty years since, the 
proportion in that country was 50 per cent. 

Were all the markets in the world open to our 
produce, as ours are to the manufactures of all tlie 
world, we should not feel the injury of this system 
very seriously — although even in that case we 
should carry on a disadvantageous commerce ; as 
Vv'e should give the labour of 5, 6, 7, and in some 
instances 10 agriculturists for that of 2 or 3 men 
or women, and in some cases hojs or girls, as will 
appear in the sequel. But under the limitations, re- 
strictions and c^ij-lusions, to which some of our chief 
staples are at present subjected, the system is de- 
structive to individual prosperity and happiness, 
and to national " wealth, power, and resources." 

Although the pernicious effect on agriculture, of 
thus diminishing the number of its customers and 
increasing that of its rivals, is too plain and self-evi- 



46 Jlddress delivered before the 

dent, to require to be bolstered up by any great 
names, yet it may not be improper to support it by 
an authority to which neither Mr. Barbour, Mr. 
Garnet, Mr. Webster, nor Mr. Cambreleng can ob- 
ject — an authority on which our leading politicians 
place the most implicit reliance. I mean Adam 
kSmith, who pronounces as strong a sentence of con- 
demnation on our policy as Dr. Franklin or Alex- 
ander Hamilton : — ■ 

" fVhatever tends to diminish in a?iy country the number of 
*' artificers and manufactxirersy TENDS TO DIMINISH 
*' THE HOME MARKET, THE MOB 1 INPORTANT OF 
"ALL MARKETS FOR THE RUDE PRODUCE OF 
'' THE LAND ; and thereby still further to discourage agri- 
** cidtnre.'* 

This maxim, which, for this country, is worth all 
tlie rest of the doctor's work — but which, by the 
way, is diametrically opposed to nearly all its other 
leading maxims, is not adduced here because it is 
the dictum of Adam Smith — nor to turn the tables 
on the opposers of the doctrines herein advocated, 
who, I repeat, regard that writer as oracular — but 
because it is founded in reason and common sense, 
and consonant with the universal practice of man- 
kind, except that of the agriculturists of the United 
States, wlio alone pursue a system calculated to 
diminish the number of their customers. Among 
all other classes and descriptions of men, an in- 
crease of the number of rivals and a decrease of 
supporters, are dreaded as severe evils. A lawyer, 
a doctor, a merchant, or a tradesman, who pursued 
a system calculated to produce tHis effect, would 
be regarded as insane. Why should a procedure, 
partaking in this case, of folly and madness, be 
wisdom as applied to the great class of agricultu- 
rists ? 

It is difficult, indeed impossible, to ascertain the 
lumber of persons originally brought up to the va- 



Fhiladelphia ^Agricultural Society. 4.7 

rious branches of manufactures and the mechanic 
arts, who have been reluctantly driven to the culti- 
vation of the soil, by the want of a market for their 
productions. But as the system has been steadily 
in operation for about thirty-five years, it cannot 
be extravagant to assume that there are 70,000 
families, manufacturers, natives and immigrants, 
thus circumstanced, averaging three to each, or 
above 200,000 persons. 

That this calculation is not materially wrong, 
will satisfactorily appear from the fact, that in the 
single city of Philadelphia, it was ascertained in 
1819, that in thirty, out of fifty-six branches of manu- 
factures, 7728 work-people had been deprived of 
employment from the year 1816. In the remain- 
ing twenty-six, there were probably as many — but 
say only half — it would amount in that short space 
of time, and in one city, to above 11,000, many of 
them with large families. At the same period, 
thousands were thrown out of employment in Rhode 
Island, and great numbers in almost every part of 
the middle and eastern states. Of these a very 
large portion devoted themselves to field labour, as 
affording the only opening for their industry. 

It will shed some light on the effect produced by 
thus converting manufacturers into farmers, to state 
that which would be produced by the contrary 
operation, i. e. recalling back to manufactures some 
of those who have been driven from these pursuits 
to agriculture. 

Mr. Philip Barbour, representative from the state 
of Virginia, during the last session of congress, sup- 
posed a case, on which he predicated what he re- 
garded as a triumphant question-—' 

*' Let us suppose," says he, " that the encouragement 
"afforded by this bill, should, in some two or three years, 
" transfer 100,000 persons from agriculture to nianufac- 



48 Address delivered before the 

" tures. Here we have this number of new customers to 
** feed. JVhat perceptible advantage^ let me ask, 7viU THIS 
" SMALL NUMBER aford to the agriculturists P'* 

That Mr. Barbour must have considered the ef- 
fect trifling and unimportant, is obvious. His ques- 
tion was regarded as a sort of refutation of all the 
arguments deduced from the pernicious conse- 
quences said to result from compelling manufac- 
turers to become agriculturists; and affords the 
most conclusive evidence, that the possession of a 
high degree of forensic talents, conceded to this 
gentleman, as well by his opponents as his sup- 
porters, does not necessarily imply the possession 
of skill as a political economist, or as a safe guide 
in the management of the affairs of a rising state. 

Instead of 100,000 farmers, converted into ma- 
nufacturers, according to the supposition of Mr. 
Barbour, I shall only assume 25,000, and confining 
myself to the culture of wheat and corn, investigate 
the effect it would produce on our agricultural sur- 
pluses. 

By an estimate, carefully made, which I lately 
published, it appears that ten men employed in 
field labour, can cultivate 300 acres of land, half in 
wlieat and half in corn. At 24 bushels of the latter, 
and 12 of the former, per acre, they produce 1800 
bushels of the one, and 3600 of the other. Deduct- 
ing for their own consumption, for seed and for 
horse feed, 225 bushels of wheat, and 1600 bushels 
of corn, leaves a surplus of 1575 bushels of wheat 
and 2000 bushels of corn — 

To ascertain the proceeds of the labours of 25,000 
persons, according to this rate, requires only asim^ 
pie arithmetical process — 

\ .^ C 1575 bush. wheats ^. _„^. C 3,937,500 bush. wheat 
As 10 : : | ^000 corn 5 ' ^^'""^ ' 1 5,000,000 corn 

The wheat is equivalent to 787,500 barrels of 
flour. 



Philadelphia Jlgricultural Society, 49 

The average export of corn and fiour for the last 
two years, was, 629,066 bushels of the former, and 
792,288, barrels of the latter. Thus we see that the 
surplus of the labour of 25,000 men, (not 100,000, 
as stated by Mr. Barbour,) is nearly equal to the 
average export of our flour, and eight times as 
much as that of our Indian corn. A little reflec- 
tion will satisfy every reader that the conversion 
of 25,000, or even 15,000 of those farmers into ma- 
nufacturers, who have quitted manufactures for the 
culture of the soil, would, by diminishing the sur- 
plus for exportation, and increasing the domestic 
market, materially improve the condition of our 
farmers. And by a parity of reasoning, it is equally 
clear, that much of their sufferings must have been 
caused by the contrary process, which has been so 
long in operation. 

The distress to the south, among the cotton and 
tobacco planters, may be traced to this source. By 
the undue increase of the class of farmers, and the 
consequent depression of farming, many of the far- 
mers in various parts of the United States have 
been driven to tobacco planting — and, wherever the 
climate is favourable for the culture of cotton, far- 
mers have from year to year engaged in it. There 
is probably five times as much cotton raised in Vir- 
ginia and North Carolina as there was six or seven 
years ago — and our system cannot fail to extend 
the cultivation. From this state of things, I repeat, 
arises the excess of production over consumption, 
of both those staples, and the consequent glut of 
the foreign markets, and reduction of prices. 



50 ^iddress delivered before the 

\l. Hadiml error of (he opinion that a fill and 
cnmpleJe protection of mamfactiires woidd be in- 
jnrioKs to the agriculturists^ by " taxing the many 
for the benefit ofthcfew.'^ 

As llie preceding views sufficiently establisli the 
pernicious consequences to agriculture, of the de- 
pression of niaiiul'actures, the sul)ject might be dis- 
missed as settled. But as lures have been held out 
to the agriculturists, of great advantages resulting 
from the purchase of cheap foreign goods, it is well 
wortli while to investigate this point, in order to 
dispel the mass of error with which the subject is 
rive loped. 
There is scarcely an opinion more generally pre- 
valent, than this, that protecting or prohibitory du- 
ties on manufactures operate as a ''tax on the many," 
the agriculturists, " for the benefit of the few," the 
manufacturers. Hence a large portion of the far- 
mers, probably one-half, and nearly the whole of 
the cotton and tobacco planters, have been uni- 
formly opposed to them. 

' That the advantage of purchasing cheap foreign 
goods, quality considered, is insignificant, and at 
all events only temporary, is capable of full demon- 
stration : but if it were permanent, it produces a 
great balance of evil. The question, put in its 
naked and correct form, stripped of the glare with 
which it is surrounded, is, whether a large portion 
of one class of our citizens shall be ruined, and 
their workmen deprived of employment, that an- 
other class may purchase certain articles a little 
cheaper than they otherwise would. 

To illustrate this position, I take the case of the 
woollen manufacturers at present. Many of them, 
as I have stated, have been ruined, and their esta- 
blishments closed, in consequence of the importa- 
tion of immense quantities of inferior goods, sacri« 



Philadelphia Jgnculttiral Society. 51 

ficed at auction below cost, whereby our citizens 
were deprived of a market, or obliged to make si- 
milar sacrifices. Suppose by the reduction of the 
prices, that each individual in the community who 
consumed the foreign cloth, had saved five or even 
ten dollars, would it not be almost Herodian cru- 
elty, to put the ruin of fellow citizens in one scale, 
and let this paltry advantage outweigh it in the 
other? 

But even supposing the low prices to continue 
permanently, the advantage is all ideal. Of this, a 
comparison between the situation of the farming in- 
terest throughout the United States in 1814, and 
in 1819-20, affords full proof. In the first year, 
manufactured articles were high — but the farmers 
were generally prosperous, as they had propor- 
tionate prices for their produce — and were then 
better able to purchase than in the latter period, 
when manufactures were in many cases reduced 
one-half, but when the farmers throughout tlie mid- 
dle states suffered the most intense distress, in con- 
sequence of the general impoverishment, arising 
from the enormous importations of the preceding 
years. 

Throughout the world, with scarcely an excep- 
tion, poverty and wretchedness are universal atten- 
dants on low prices. China, Italy, Poland, Spain, 
and ill-fated Ireland, are cases in point. In Ireland, 
labour and every article produced by it, are at the 
lowest possible rates. Labourers are hired for four, 
five, and six pence per day, equal to 7, 9, 
and 11 cents. Potatoes are about 5cL per 14 lb. 
Other articles are in the same proportion. Yet 
cheap as are provisions, clothing, &c. the people 
are more wretched there than in any other part of 
Europe. The United States and Great Britain are 
illustrations of a contrary character. Labour and 



52 Address delivered before the 

its productions are high in both countries. Butnoman 
will deny the superiority of the mass of the popu- 
lation in point of comfort and happiness, over those 
of the other nations specified. 

I shall now endeavour to prove, that throughout 
a large portion of our existence as a nation, our 
system made a wanton sacrifice of the interests of 
the class for whose particular benefit it was devis- 
ed, and that it *' taxed the many" domestic con- 
sumers, "for the benefit of the few" foreign manu- 
facturers. 

The government was organized in 1789, fromi 
which time till 1810, a period of twenty-one years, 
the manufacture of cottons and woollens, and iron 
wares generally, was almost unknown in this coun- 
try. Of course we depended upon foreign supplies 
almost altogether. There was no competition to 
check exorbitant prices. It is therefore highly 
probable that all the cotton and woollen goods and 
iron ware consumed in that period, to the amount 
of from 15 to g 20,000,000 per annum, cost the 
American consumer from 15 to 25 per cent, more 
than they would havedone, had those manufactures 
been established here, and a proper competition 
preserved between the foreign and domestic manu- 
facturer. 

The case of coarse cottons affords a powerful 
corroboration of this theory. The East India article 
was paltry and comparatively worthless. Yet it 
generally sold at about 25, 26, or 27 cents per yard, 
while there was no American competition. Prohi- 
bitory duties were enacted in 1816: and the prices, 
in consequence of competition, have fallen to 12, 
13, and 14 cents, for an excellent article, twice as 
serviceable as the East India trash. Had the pro- 
tection been extended to the manufacture in 1789, 
the same result would have taken place at that 



Philadelphia Jgriculturul Society. 53 

time, which would have produced an immense sav- 
ing to the farming interest. The annual importation 
was about g 4,000,000. Of course the consumers 
paid about & 2,000,000 more than they otherwise 
would have done, had the manufacture been pro- 
perly protected. These observations apply to all 
other manufactures, not established in the country, 
in which there is no rivalship. 

1 have another strong; case to present to my audi- ' 
tors, to prove the advantage to the agriculturists, of 
the success, and consequently of the protecjtion, of; 
manufactures. In the year 1821, the manufiicture j 
of cotton bagging was ])rostrated in Kentucky. The^ 
imported article was sold at New Orleans throughout 
the year 1822, at from 40 to 50 cents per yard, or an 
average of 45 cents, although the price in Dundee was 
only 9f/. a lOrf. sterling. Towards the close of the year 
1822, the manufacture was revived in Kentucky, and 
considerable supplies were forwarded to N. Orleans. 
The competition reduced the price to little more 
than half. In three prices current, now before me, 
of Dec. 27, 1823, and Jan. 31 and Feb. 7, 1824, the 
Scotch bagging is quoted at 22 a 26 cents, and 
Kentucky at 20 to 22, or an average for the for- 
mer of 24 cents, being a reduction of about 21 cents 
per yard. Let it be distinctly observed, as having 
an important bearing on the subject, that the price 
in Dundee had not undergone any material altera- 
tion within the time embraced in these statements, 
and that, therefore, the reduction of the price of the 
foreign article is solely attributable to the compe- 
tition of the domestic one. 

The quantity of cotton bagging used in ^wa, United 
States is about 3,300,000 yards per annum, which, 
during the year 1822, at 45 cents per yard, cost 
about % 1,485,000. The cost in 1 823, at 24 cents, 
was about S 792,000, making a difierence in fiivour 
E 2 



54 Jlddress delivered before the 

of the cotton planters, in the latter year, of above 
S 690,000, arising, beyond the possibility of doubt, 
from the revival of the manufacture in Ken- 
tucky. Yet, strange and impolitic as it really is, 
every cotton planter in congress was violently op- 
posed to the protection of manufactures generally, 
and in a most especial manner to that of cotton 
bagging!!! 

_ From a lull consideration of the effect of compe- 
tition in the case of coarse cottons and cotton bag- 
ging, and in every case where any of our manufac- 
tures have been adequately protected, it may be 
pronounced as a general maxim, with scarcely an 
exception, that prohibitory duties, or even absolute 
prohibitions, provided their operation be prospec- 
tive, far from ** taxing the many for the benefit of 
'• the few," by raising prices, never fail to produce 
reductions of price and constant supplies. On this 
subject, 1 shall call in the aid of Alexander Hamil- 
ton — 

" \yhen a domestic manufacture has attained to per- 
** fection, and has en^^igcd in the prosecution of it, a coni- 
" petent number of persons, it invarinbbj becomes cheaper. 
***** TJie internal competition which takes place, soon 
*' does away every tiling like monopoly ; and by degrees 
" reduces the price of the article to the minimam''of a reason- 
*' able pvojit on the capital employed. Tliis accords with the 
" reason of the thing, and with experience." 

I shall conclude this head Mith one more case of 
the injury inflicted by our policy on agriculture. 

In consequence of the commotions in Spain, great 
numbers of full-blooded Merinos were imported in- 
to this country in 1810, 1811, and 1812, and pur- 
chased by our farmers at exorbitant prices. The breed 
was propagated to a great extent — and an adequate 
protection of the woollen manufacture would have 
rendered this speculation highly advantageous to the 
farmers. But, to avoid " taxing the many for the 



Philadelphia Jgriculiural Socletj/. 55 

*• benefit of the few," the woollen manufacture was 
allowed to be prostrated in 1817, 1818, and 1819, 
and thus not only the large capital, probably ^l.- 
500,000 invested in Merinos, and lialf and quarter 
breeds, was nearly all sacrificed ; but the farmers 
were deprived of a steady, increasing market for 
wool, wi;ich would have enabled them to employ 
to advantage a portion of their lands, rendered use- 
less by the prohibition of our breadstufis in nearly all 
parts of Europe, and produced them an annual in- 
come of probably from 2 to S 3,000,000. 

VII. 

My seventh position is, that the protection of ma- 
nufactures would be beneficial not only to our mer- 
chants, but to the merchants and manufacturers of 
Great Britain. 

On this point I shall be very brief, and barely 
sketch the outlines of the arguments, leaving the 
details to be filled up by my auditors. 

That our commerce is, and has been from the or- 
ganization of the government, overdone, that is to 
say, that there have been at all times too many 
merchants for the commerce of the country, is a 
truth of which no man of observation or candour 
can for a moment doubt. This has arisen obviously 
from the non-establishment of a variety of manu- 
factures, those, for instance, of cottons, woollens, 
iron ware, glass, china, &c. &c. in whicli, for want 
of adequate protection, our citizens were for a se- 
ries of years unable to compete with foreign rivals; 
and many of which, even at present, are in a sickly 
and drooping state, and some of the most important 
almost wholly un essayed in this country. Hundreds , 
of young men, in every stage of our career, who 
would have been devoted to those branches, had 
they been extensively carried on, have been placed 



56 Mdress delivered before the 

in counting-houses, and become merchants, without 
the necessary friends, capital, or talents for the 
profession. Hence there are probably as many ship- 
ping merchants in the United States as in Great 
Britain: scarcely a port in the country that has not 
a number of them — and hence competition has al- 
most always raised our staples too high in our mar- 
kets — reduced them too low abroad by glutting the 
foreign markets — raised the prices of the return car- 
goes in the West Indies and elsewhere — and re- 
duced the prices of those cargoes on their arrival 
in the United States. To these co'inbined causes 
may be fairly ascribed the misfortunes and ship- 
wreck of so large a portion of the merchants of 
this country, particularly during the wars of the 
French revolution, w'len, to speak within bounds, 
three-fourths of them became bankrupts, notwith- 
standing we enjoyed a commerce without prece- 
dent in the annals of neutral nations. Adequate 
protection of manufactures at present, would not 
only prevent a continuance of this inordinate in- 
crease, but induce some of our merchants to devote 
themselves to those branches, and thus reduce the 
number within bounds more commensurate with our 
commerce — of course furnish employment to some 
of the capital which the limitation of that commerce 
stagnates — and, in addition, afford an opening for 
the younger branches of the families of our mer- 
chants, whose parents at present find it extremely 
difficult to devise occupations for them by which 
thej may be enabled at a future day to support 
themselves. 

»i 
When T assert that the protection of manufac- 
tures would be beneficial to the manufacturers and 
merchants of Great Britain, it is not with a view of 
sporting a paradox. It is a position founded on the 
most mature consideration I can give the subject. 



Philadelphia JgriciiUural Society. 57 

I trust I have proved that this country, generally 
speaking;, is in an impoverished state — and that its 
impoverishment arises from the impolicy of allow- 
ing our manufactures to be depressed, and the ma- 
nufacturers to be driven to the culture of the soil, 
whereby the production of our great staples is in- 
creased beyond the demand at home and abroad, 
so as to depress the prices below a fair remunera- 
tion for the time, talent, and capital employed. 

An impoverished nation must curtail its expenses, 
and of course it§ importations, within narrow limits. 
Luxuries are in a great measure renounced, except 
by the few who escape the general pressure. Many 
conveniences are in like manner given up; and, 
with the prudent, expenses are in a great measure 
confined to necessaries. The payments of s^ith a 
nation moreover must always be irregular aiid un- 
certain. Large losses will inevitably accrue by 
bankruptcy. 

On the contrary a prosperous nation purchases 
freely, not merely of necessaries and conveniences, 
but, on a large scale, of luxuries, on which the pro- 
fits of an exporting nation are greater than on mere 
necessaries. If our cotton, woollen, and iron ma- 
nufactures were adequately protected, so that we 
should import less of them, and keep our popula- 
tion profitably employed, circulation would be brisk, 
our citizens would be prosperous, and our impor- 
tations of plate, plated ware, laces, merino shawls, 
girandoles, china, Brussels carpets, &c. &c. would 
be doubled or trebled — and thus our total importa- 
tions be greatly increased. 

Let any man for a moment reflect on the differ- 
ence between the present scale of expense of the 
citizens of the southern states, when, I repeat, ac- 
cording to Mr. Carter, "large and ample estates, 
once the seats of opulence^ which supported their 



58 Jlddress delivered before the 

proprietors in affluence and comfort, are now thrown 
out to waste and decay, '^ — and the scale formerly, 
when they sold their upland cotton at 20 a 25 cents 
per lb. and tobacco at S150 her hhd. and he will 
fully appreciate the soundness of these opinions. 

The proof of this theory is at hand — ^and is con- 
clusive, by a comparison of our consumption of fo- 
reign goods at two several periods. 

The imports of the United States in six years, 
from 1796 to 1801 inclusive, were g 507,052,697 

Re-exportations - - - 217,596,598 

tSix years consumption, - ^^& 289,456,099 
Average - . . - g 48,242,683 



Our population during that period averaged about 
4,750,000. Of course our consumption of foreign 
goods, wares, and merchandise, averaged about ten 
dollars per head. Mark the contrast. 

Our imports for 1821, 1822, and 

1823, were - - - S 225,406,532 

Re-exportations - - - 71,132^312 

Three years consumption, ""g 152,27-1,220 

Average - - - - 8 50,758,073 



Our population during the last period, probably 
averaged about 10,200,000. Our consumption of 
foreign articles, therefore, has been below five dol- 
lars per head, but little more than half what it was 
in the former period.^^ Some reduction, it must be 

^ Seybert, pap^e 266. 2^ Treasury returns, 

•^ss This arg-ument would receive great additional force 
if we could ascertain the amount of teas, coffee, spices, 
:c. imported at both periods. The cou- 



Philadelphia Agricultural Society, 59 

allowed, has taken place of late in the prices of our 
imports, from what they commanded duringthe chief 
part of the wars of the French revolution, when they 
rose extravagantly, in consequence of the excessive 
issues of paper money in Great Britain. But the great 
rise was subsequent to the first period from 1796 to 
1801, in which years it was inconsiderable. At all 
events, it bears no proportion to the very great re- 
duction of th.e amount of our imports per capita. 

There is, however, another point of view in Vvhich 
to consider our relations witii Great Britain; that 
is, as regards her government. On this I wish to of- 
fer a single observation, to which I request par- 
ticular attention for the sake of both countries. If 
such a mighty power could regard this country with 
sentiments of jealousy, as likely at a futureqJiy to 
dispute with her the trident of Neptune, at some 
of our enthusiastic citizens fondly believe, then 
the policy we pursue is highly promotive of her 
views, and ought to be advocated by all her friends 
with zeal ; as it wastes our resources, and impo- 
verishes our citizens — and will in the same degree, 
at all future times, enfeeble us. But " self-poised" 
as she is, with resources such as no nation ever be- 
fore possessed, and those resources likely, from the 
profound wisdom of her policy, to continue perma- 
nently, such feelings and views are not supposable. 

I now proceed to reply to some of the most plau- 
sible and popular objections to the legislative pro- 
tection of manufactures. 

First objection — Demoralization, 
Among the objections to the protection of manu- 
factures, their tendency to demoralization has held 

sumption of these must increase with the great increase 
of population, however great the general depression. 



GO •Address delivered before the 

a conspicuous place, and, for want of reflexion, has 
had a pernicious influence even on men of minds 
beyond the common level. And hence, thousands 
of young people, who, under a correct policy, might 
and would be profitably employed for themselves 
and the community, in manufacturing establish- 
ments, are brouglit up in idleness, and exposed to 
the seductions of vice and crime, which always fol- 
low in the train of idleness. Of the persons em- 
ployed in the cotton manufactories throughout the 
IFnited States, amounting probably to 150,000, 
whose numbers might be greatly increased, two- 
thirds at least are young females, of whom half 
would be absolutely or nearly idle, but for this 
branch of business. While thus employed, they 
contract habits of order, regularity, and industry, 
which lay a broad and deep foundation of public 
and private future usefulness. They become, as 
they arrive at a marriageable age, eligible partners 
for life for young men, to whom they will be able 
to afford substantial aid in the support of families, 
a consideration which cannot fail to have due weight 
with those possessed of common prudence. Thus 
the inducements to early marriages, and the pros- 
pects of comfort and independence in that state, 
are greatly increased — the licentiousness to which 
a life of celibacy is exposed, proportionably restrain- 
ed — and immensely important effects produced on 
the welfare of society. Hence it is obvious, that 
this objection is wholly unfounded — and that the 
encouragement of manufactures, by stimulating 
and rewarding industry, has, on the contrary, a 
constant tendency to promote sound morals. 

It is the misfortune of this country, that most of 
our maxims on this and some other vital subjects, 
are derived from views of society and manners in 
Europe, wholly inapplicable to our situation. Many 
of those views are partial and confined, even as they 



Philadelphia ^Agricultural Society. Gl 

regard Europe, and are calculated to foster precon- 
ceWed prejudices; for a broad and liberal investi- 
j^ation of the effect of manufactures in England, 
France, or Germany, would prove, beyond contro- 
versy, that their tendency is salutary even there, as 
they necessarily promote industry, which is one of 
the p;reat.est preservatives from vice and crime 
throughout the v/orld. 

Fortunately I have means in my power to esta- 
blish this point as respects Great Britain, the great- 
est manufacturing nation in the world, by a com- 
parison of six counties, three where manufactures 
and three where agriculture principally prevail. 





Popula- 
tion. 


Fan)ilits 
engaged 
m Ma- 
nulac- 
turos, 
trade, 
&c. 


Families 
engaged 

;n airri. 

culture. 


Paupers. 


2. 
1 


Poor rates 


Lancaster 
Yorkshire 
Stafford 


1,032,859 

1,175,251 

341,824 


152,271 
137,048 
42,435 


22,723 
63,830 
18,285 


46,200 
77,661 

22,510 


371 

245 

91 


Z.249,585 
453,461 
133,701 




2,569,934 


331,754 


104,838 


146,371 


707 


836,747 


Norfolk 

Suffolk 

Essex 


343,368 

270,54 

289,424 


26,201 
17,418 
17,160 


36,368 

30,745 
33,206 


42,707 
36,110 
38,337 


163 
109 
144 


iv.256,014 

240,384 
254,837 




903,334 


60,779 


100,319 


117,154 


416 


X.75 1,235 



SYNOPSIS. 





n 

7 


n 

IVr 

cent. 

24 
63 


1 

Per 

cent. 

5.68 
12.9 


Per 

cent. 


Poor 
rates. 




Per 

cent. 

70 
37 


Per 
head. 


Lancaster, York & Stafford 
Norfolk, Suffolk k Essex 


.027 
.046 


65. Gd. 
165. lOf/. 



62 Address delivered before the 

Thus it appears that in the agricultural counties 
the proportion of paupers is above 100, of criminals 
60, and of poor rates 150 per cent, more than in 
those where manufactures prevail. 

These tables demand the most serious considera- 
tion, not merely from our statesmen, but from our 
citizens at large. They operate a complete refuta- 
tion of the prevailing error, on the subject of the de- 
moralizing tendency of manufactures, and prove 
that this objection, like all the others so confident- 
ly relied on, when brought to the test of fact, proves 
utterly fallacious. 

The population is taken from Lowe's " Present 
state of England" — the number of families engaged 
in manufactures and in agriculture, as well as the 
poor rates, from the Monthly Magazine for March, 
1824, where they are derived from the late census 
— the enumeration of the paupers and criminals 
from Colquhoun's Treatise on Indigence. It is not 
necessary to corroborate the deductions arising from 
these facts, by any authority whatever. They carry 
conviction with them; but, to remove all doubts 
from the minds of those who may be disposed to in- 
credulity, I quote the opinion of Colquhoun, whose 
opportunities were second to those of no man in 
Europe, and who explicitly pronounces a condemna- 
tion of the prevailing dogma : 

" Contrary to the generally received opinion, the num- 
" bers of paupers [he might, as his own tables evince, have 
*' added — and of criminals,] in those counties which are 
*' chiefly agricultural, greatly exceed those where manu- 
" factures prevail/'^e 

The citizens of the southern states, who are so 
very solicitous to preserve our morals from degene- 
rating, by the protection of manufactures, may 
therefore calm their apprehensions, and spare them- 

-c Colquhoun on Indigence, p. 272. 



Philadelphia ^Agricultural Society. 63 

selves any uneasiness on the subject. They arc 
disposed to be wroth when any of our citizens in- 
terfere with that portion of their population des- 
tined to labour on their plantations, whom they 
deem themselves fully competent to manage : and 
they may trust the citizens of the other states with 
the management, and care of the morals, of their 
free work people. Above all things, if they conde- 
scend to watch over the morals of our people, they 
are respectfully requested to devise some other 
mode of preserving them than the one they have 
hitherto pursued, of devoting so many of them to 
idleness and pauperism. 

Second ohjcction — TVe are not ripe for manufac- 
tures. 

Many of the opposers of the legislative protec- 
tion of manufactures, make large professions of 
friendship for them, but hold out the very fallacious 
idea, contradicted by almost universal experience, 
that when a country is " ripe" for them, they will 
arise spontaneously without protection — but that 
when a country is not thus " rijoe," it is improper 
to force them by what is termed hot-bed culture, 
that is, by protecting or prohibitory duties. 

The elements of this "ripeness," on which so 
much emphasis is laid, are, the raw material in 
abundance — sufficient capital — and cheapness of 
labour. I hope to make it appear as clear as the 
noon-day sun, that a nation may possess all these, 
and yet be disabled by overwhelming foreign com- 
petition from availing herself of them. I will in 
the first instance take the case of the cotton manu- 
facture in the United States. 

So far as regarded the raw material, no country 
was ever more ripe for any manufacture than the U. 
States were for this one from 1795 to 1805, during 



64 Address delivered before the 

which time capital was superabundant here for 
every object of profitable speculation. And the 
niachinerj employed in cotton spinning and weav- 
ing, is managed chiefly by young females, who 
formerly wove twenty or twenty-five yards per 
diem — and each of whom can at present attend 
two power looms, which together produce fifty 
yards per day. The labour, of course, counts for 
little, being formerly less than two cents per yard, 
and now less than one. We possessed, moreover, 
mechanical talent for making machinerj^, not ex- 
celled in the world — and a boundless extentof wa- 
ter power. Here then is a case completely ful- 
filling all the conditions of "Wpmess^" — com- 
pletely testing this theory; and either fully esta- 
blishing it, or proving it radically unsound, and 
fraught with pernicious consequences to any nation 
which acts on it. Unfortunately for our political 
economists, in this instance, as in almost every 
other, fact puts d^wn their theory. 

Mr. Gallatin, whose attention was called to ma- 
nufactures by an order of the house of Representa- 
tives, and who took great pains to investigate their 
situation, informs us in his report on the subject, 
that in Rhode Island, where the cotton manufac- 
ture was first established, and which has now be- 
come the chief seat of it, there was one cotton mill 
erected in 1791 — in four years more, another! — 
and in 1803 and 1804, tivomoreiw Massachusetts ! 
During the three succeeding years, there were ten 
more erected in RJiode Island, and one in Connec- 
ticut ! making in all fifteen, erected in those states 
before 1807, which employed 8000 spindles, and 
produced about 300,000 lbs. of yarn per annum! 
In the otiier states, particularly at Patterson in 
New Jersey, and in the city of Philadelphia, seve- 
ral attempts were made to establish the manufac- 



FJiilachlphid Agricultural Society. ^5 

turc, which almost universally failed, to the ruin of 
the undertakers. And, but for the restrictive sys- 
tem, the war, and the prohibitory square yard duty, 
this manufacture, so peculiarly calculated for this 
country, and for which we were so "rip^,'' would 
to this day have remained in a groveling state. 

Let it be observed that the average 
export of cotton from the United States 
from 1795 to 1799 inclusive, Mas lbs. 7,012,745 

From 1800 to 1806, also inclusive, 35,432,219 

But according to a report of the com- 
mittee of commerce and manufactures ^* 
in 181G, the consumption in ISOO was 
only lbs. 150,000! 

And in 1805 was only 300,000 ! 

AYhereas, under the operation of the 
restrictive system, the consumption in 
1810, rose to . /6s. 3,000,000 

and in 1815, by the war, to 27,000,000 

So much, fellow citizens, for the spontaneous 
growth and maturity of manufactures, '* when a na- 
tion is ripe for them." This, then, appears one of ^ 
those pretty phrases, which mankind, through in- 
dolence and want of disposition to take the pains 
to investigate, receive on trust as oracular, but 
which are mere political ignes fatui, insuring the 
decay of those nations which adopt them. 

Further. We are now " ripe" for the manufac- 
ture of fine muslins, so far as the raw material, 
machinery, capital, skill, and cheapness of labour 
are concerned. But we cannot compete with the 
superior capitals of the British manufacturers, for 
want of adequate protection. 

As this is a favourite dogma with the supporters 
of the present withering policy of the country, and 
as thousands of our citizens labour under the delu- 
sion of receiving it with implicit faitli, 1 think it 

F 2 1 



GG Address delivered before the 

time well employed, to corroborate the refutation 
of it arising from our own experience by strong ex- 
amples derived from that of Europe. 

England previously to the reign of the third and 
fourth Edward, was "ripe" for the woollen manu- 
i'acture, so far as cheapness of labour and super- 
abundance of the raw material were concerned — 
and there \vd% no deficiency of capital for the esta- 
blishment. According to the theory of our politi- 
cal economists, that branch should have arisen there 
spontaneously, centuries before the reigns of those 
monarchs. But their predecessors, persuaded, it 
is to be presumed, that the day of " ripeness^^ had 
not arrived, took no pains to foster this industry ; and 
hence England shipped immense quantities of her 
wool to Flanders, as we do of our cotton to Europe 
— received it back in a manufactured state at an 
advance of two, three, four, and five fold — -employ- 
ed the poor, and supported the government, of the 
Belgic province%— kept thousands of her own peo- 
ple partly unemployed, or wholly so, as paupers — 
and withered and blasted the national prosperity. 
The Edwards, wiser than their predecessors, saw that 
the ripeness depended on protection — and wisely 
afforded that protection. The manufacture in conse- 
quence prospered. Those monarchs clothed their 
people with their own cloth — saved large sums to 
the country — induced numbers of valuable manu- 
facturers to immigrate into England, with their ta- 
lents, their capitals, and their industry, — and thus 
enhanced the national wealth, power, and resources, 
at the expense of a rival nation. 

Ireland affords another illustration of this theory. 
Her pasturage is second to none in the world. She 
raises large nocks of sheep, and could raise treble the 
number. Labour is cheap. People, we are recently 
told, can be hired there at 4d. and 6d. per diem. Ca- 



Fhiladelphia Jlgricultural Society. 67 

pltal is not deficient ; but if it were, it might be had 
to any extent in Great Britain. She is therefore 
admirably calculated for the woollen manufacture, 
and ougiit to be able, not merely to clothe her own 
population, but now, as she enjoys a fvt^ trade, to 
export immense quantities of woollen goods to 
this and other countries, where the market is open 
to her. But by a statement now before me, it ap- 
pears that though she export(*d in the year 1822, 
wool to a very considerable amount, she exported 
no woollen p;oods whatever, and the chief part of 
her consumption of line and superfine cloths is 
derived from Great Britain. Her manufacture is 
confined almost altogether to coarse goods. 

Third objection — Capital not so profitably employed 
m manufactures as in agriculture. 

We are assured by the opposers of the legislative 
protection of maimfactures, that capital employed 
in them is not productive of so much national ad- 
vantage as what is invested in agriculture. This is 
a vital error, as will appear from the following com- 
parison between the culture and the manufacture of 
cotton. This culture and manufacture are fair sub- 
jects of comparison, as they are among the most 
profitable of their respective genera of industry, and 
their results are more readily reducible to rule. 

A company of neo;roes, seventy-five, young 
and old, will furnish 45, but say 50 working 
hands, v/ho, under every advantage of sea- 
son and soil, may average per annum, about 
1000 lbs. of cotton each, equal on the whole 
to 50,000 lbs. This, at 15 cents per pound 
amounts to - - - S r,500 

Fifty females, attending each two power 
looms, and manufacturing 50 yards per day, ' 



68 Address delivered before the 

produce in the year 750,000 yards, which, at 

11 cents per yard^ amount to - S 82,500 

At four yards and a half to the pound, 
these weavers consume about 166,600 lbs. of 
yarn, produced out of 190,000 lbs. of raw 
cotton, which, at 15 cents, amount to - 28,500 

Net national gain * - - 54,000 

, 166,600 lbs of yarn, at 28 cents per lb. 
f aniountto - " . " . " .^6,480 

Fifty persons engaged in weaving, require 100 
persons, male and female, young and old, to per- 
form the various operations of blowing, carding, 
drawing, roving, stretching, spinning, spooling, 
warping, dressing, and jobbing. 

Thus it appears thaf 150 persons, most of whom, 
but for the cotton manufacture, would be either par- 
tially employed, or wholly idle, save to the nation 
g 54'',000 per annum, or S 360 each — whereas 50 
working negroes^ncumbered with 25 non-labour- 
ers, bring into the 'country only g 7,500, or S 150 
per head — or, if we take into view, as is perfectly 
light, the whole 75, it is only SIOO. 

At the above rate, 21 females in Manchester, 
pay for the proceeds of the labour of 50 able-bodied 
negroes, encumbered with 25 incapable of work 
,, from superannuation or infancy. 

The wages of the 150 persons, say 50 at 
250 cents per week, and 100 at 175 cents,' 
amount to - - - S 15,600 

of which probably one-half goes to enrich 
the neighbouring farmers. 

Such'an establishment, moreover, affords 
employment to probably an equal number of 
persons engaged in various handicraft occu- 
pations—but say only 50, who, with the 150 



Vhiladelfhla Agricultural Society. 69 

employed in tlie manufactory, make up 200 
customers to the neighbouring farmers for 
provisions, drink, and fuel, at say 45 dol- 
lars per head, which amounts to per annum S 9,000 

Those handicraft people afford a market 
to the farmers for timber, hides, skins, &:c. 
&c. which can scarcely amount to less than, 
per annum - - - SI 0,000 

The importance of this point, will warrant de- 
voting a few lines more to it. Alexander Hamil- 
ton's views on it, as indeed on every subject con- 
nected with political economy, were singularly cor- 
rect. He says — 

" Manufacturing' establishments afford occasional and ex- 
*^ tra employment to industrious individuals and f amides ^ who 
*'are willing to devote the leisure resulting from the 5n- 
*' termissions of therr ordinary pursuits, to collateral la- 
*' hours, as a resource for multiplying- th^ acquisitions or 
" their enjoyments- The husbandman hiriilelf experiences 
*' fl ne~M source of profit and support froviiivs increased indnS' 
" irij of his xvife and daiighterSf invited Rnd stimulated by 
"the demands of the neighbouring- uiiii aractories," 

I trust that these statements, which challenge a 
rigorous investigation, ftiliy prove that tlie idea of 
the iriferiority of manufacturing labour, especially 
when aided by machinerj", is the reverse of truth — 
as are the opinions of those who regard the com- 
plete protection of manufactures not merely as in- 
different but pernicious to the agriculturists. It is 
scarcely possible to conceive of an error more de- 
structive to their interests or to national prosperity. 

This is the theorj'. Now to the fact in confirma- 
tion. 

Mr. Gallatin, in his report on manufactures, da- 
ted April 17, 1810, informs us that a cotton manu- 
factory in Providence, R. I, gave employment to 
178 persons, of whom 24 males, and 29 females, 
were within the establishment — and 50 males and 75 



70 Mdress delivered before the 

females at their respective homes. It is highly pro- 
bable, that the whole of the latter, and half at least 
of the former, belonged to the families of the neigh- 
bouring farmers. 

It is well worth while to ponder on the effects of 
our present system in a national point of view, the 
grand view in which it will be regarded by real 
statesmen. 

The United States ship to Europe 60,000 
lbs of cotton, which, at 15 cents per lb. 

amount to S 9,000 

They receive in return 72,000 yards of cot- 
ton goods at, suppose, an average of 12^ 

cents per yard 9,000 

These 72,000 yards are produced out of 1 8,000 
lbs. of cotton wool. Thus, in the exchange between 
the United States and Europe, the latter makes a 
clear gain of 42,000 lbs. out of 60,000. 

It will be observed that I have taken the coarse 
cottons into cori^eration. Had I predicated the 
calculation on fine goods at 15, 20, 25, or 30 cents 
per yard, as I might have done, it would have ad- 
ded greatly to the force of the argument. 

Some politicians have asserted, and even in print, 
that it is of no consequence to the cotton planter, 
whether he sells his cotton to his fellow citizens in 
Rhode Island, or to the subjects of the powers of 
Europe. He, to whom it is indifferent whether he 
enriches his fellow citizens, embarked in the same 
vessel of state with him, who braved the dangers 
of war in defence of their common country, and, 
on whom, in case of future wars, he must rely, or a 
foreigner who has been and may be again an enemy 
-—he who is regardless whether he adds to the 
wealth, power, and resources of his own country, 
or to those of a foreign nation — has yet to study 
the duties of a good citizen, and ought to have no 



Philadelphia ^Agricultural Society, 71 

influence in the national councils. But even on the 
most selfish principles, this view is wholly untena- 
ble and fallacious ; for it is surely far better to have 
three markets than two. 

Fourth objectio)i — Abstraction of capital from agri* 
culture and commerce. 

It is asserted that it is unsound policy to abstract 
capital from commerce and agriculture, and em- 
ploy it in manufactures.^^ 

This objection has been reiterated times without 
number, and has passed current with too many of 
our citizens, who are disposed to believe that all 
the capital of the country is fully and profitably 
employed. Nothing can be more unfounded. The 
want of employment for capital is manifest from 
the prices of our stocks. This day the three per 
cents, are at 88, which is only 3.40 per cent. There 
is not a person who frequents any exchange in the 
United States, or who is in the smallest degree 
conversant with our commerce, who, if candid, will 
not acknowledge that there is not half employment 
for the mercantile capital of the country, notwith- 
standing the lamentable diminution it has under* 
gone since the war. And so far as regards agricul- 
ture, the case is equally striking. Our population 
engaged in that pursuit, was at the last census 
8,022,319— and is now about 8,500,000, of whom 

27 Among the evils with which the nation has been threat- 
ened, in the event of any modification of the tariff, that 
of ** forcing capitaV^ from agriculture and commerce to 
manufactures, was strenuously insisted on. The Charles- 
ton memorial " deprecates so violent a diversion of capi- 
" tal and industry from the channels in which they would 
"naturally flow, for the purpose oi forcing' them into 
" others in which their operations would be more embar- 
" russed and less efficient." 



73 Address delivered before the 

about 550,000, but say 650,000, are engaged in the 
culture of cotton. The surplus exports of the re- 
maining 7,850,000, during the last year, were only 
22,200,1.19 dollars, or at the rate of about 282 cents 
per head. No man, surely, will pretend that such 
a pitiful surplus as this, together with the consump- 
tion of the agriculturists, and the supply of 2,000,- 
000 of their fellow citizens, can find employiuent for 
the agricultural capital of the country, which, if we 
had free access to the markets of Europe, could pro- 
duce a surplus of from 75 to 100,000,000 dollars per 
annum. I have already shown, that in the year 1796, 
our surplus agricultural exports amounted to above 
eight dollars per head of our entire population. 

Fifth Objection — To impose duties for the protection 
of manufactures is unconsiitutional. 

That the power of imposing duties is by the con- 
stitution limited to the object of raising revenue, 
a^d that therefor^' to impose them for the protec- 
tion of manu factutes is unconstitutional, has been 
asserted, with great confidence, by leading mem- 
bers of congress — and more particularly by some 
from Virginia. The late (Colonel Taylor, the pa- 
triarch of this school of politicians, went t|i!^ length 
of declaring th^t a duty of 25 per cent, on S40,- 
000,000 of manufactures, is S 10,000,000 robbed 
from the pockets of the agriculturists! 

It is difficult to discuss such assertions seriously, 
as they are in direct hostility with the uniform 
practice of the government from the time of its or- 
ganizaltion to the present hour. 

The first congress, comprising a considerable 
proportion of the members of the federal conven- 
tion by which the constitution had been recently 
framed, must of course have been thoroughly ac- 
quainted with the intent and meaning of its provi- 



Fhiladelphia Jlgncultiiral Society. 73 

sions. The act which imposed the duties on imports 
was the second passed bj that congress, and dis- 
tinctly recognizes the principle of protecting du- 
ties. The preamble is in these words, " Whereas it 
" is necessary for the support of government — for 
" the discharge of the debts of the Uniied States, 
" and /or the encouragement and protection of ma- 
" nufactures, that duties be laid on goods, wares 
" and merchandise." It cannot be for a moment 
supposed that such a provision would have been ad- 
mitted into this act, had there been any foundation 
for the constitutional objection. 

This ought to be conclusive, and it is astonishing 
that gentlemen bred up to the bar, who should be 
well acquainted with the laws of their country, 
could, in the face of this strong fact, commit them- 
selves by such an untenable objection. 

But this is far from the whole of the case. By 
tlie above act, duties amounting to from 70 to 90 
per cent, were imposed on snuflf and tobacco, in- 
tended to be prohibitory, and operating as such, ia 
order to secure the domestic consumption of tobac- 
co to the planters of Maryland, Virginia, and North 
Ciarolina. Yet a large portion of the members for 
those states strenuously maintain the constitutional 
objection. Unless, however, they can prove that 
there is something sacred in the character of to- 
bacco planters or in tobacco, which guarantees them 
and it from the aj>eration of constitutional objec- 
tions, which are tbbe enforced against manufactures 
and manufacturers, they must abandon this ground. 

It is almost superfluous to adduce any furtlier 
facts on so plain a case. But I shall trespass with 
one more. The act above referred to, imposed, for 
the protection of merchants concerned in naviga- 
tion, duties on teas imported in foreign vessels, 
which averaged 27 cents per lb. wliereas those im- 

* G 



74 Address delivered before the 

ported in American paid but 12, being a difference 
of 1 25 per cent. What becomes of the constitutional 
scruple here ? 

Sixth objection — Danger of Smuggling. 

Among the objections to the legislative protec- 
tion of manufactures by an increase of duties, the 
danger of smuggling and the consequent demora- 
lization of our citizens, also held a conspicuous 
place. On this subject the changes have been rung 
irom north to south, from east to west, and the 
most serious alarm been excited among our citi- 
zens, many of whom are too prone to receive confi- 
dent assertions, as equivalent to absolute proofs. 
Some of tlie arguments of the members of congress, 
and many of those of pamphleteers and newspaper 
writers, were well calculated to stimulate our citi- 
zens to smuggling — and in every community there 
are always individuals to be found, who rejoice in 
any plea furnished them? to justify illicit proceed- 
ings, producing undue gains. AVho has forgotten 
the incitements and statements of a similar charac- 
ter, during the prevalence of the restrictive system 
and the war — and the advantage that was taken by 
the unprincipled, of the encouragement thus offered 
to them ? 

In order to judge correctly on this subject, it is 
necessary to examine the extent of the duties pro- 
posed by Mr. Tod's bill, and to compare them with 
duties previously existing. I shall confine myself 
to those on iron, iron wares, cottons, woollens, cot- 
ton bagging, linens, and silks, being the principal 
articles, all the rest being comparatively unimpor- 
tant. 

The duties on ironmongery, in general, would 
have avenged about 27 a 30 per cent. ; on iron in 
bars or bolts from Sweden, which supplies two- 



Fhiladelphia Agricultural Society, 75 

thirds of all we import, about 40 per cent. From 
their bulk there can be but little danger of smug- 
gling in those articles. 

The only alteration proposed in the duties on 
cotton goods, was on those below 55 cents per 
square yard. All above that price were to remain 
as formerly, subject to 25 per cent. Those below 
35 cents per square yard, were to be rated at 35 . 
cents, and to pay 25 per cent, on tliat price. The J 
operation of this new duty would be confined al- J 
most altogether to goods between 25 and 35 cents -l 
per square yard ; as the existing minimum square 
yard duty excluded nearly the whole of those below 
the former price. It will be readily admitted that 
this slight alteration afforded no ground for the cla- 
mour on the subject of smuggling. 

The additional duty on woollen goods, except 
those worthless, low-priced articles, which it was 
proposed to exclude altogether, was only five per 
cent. 

Of the woollen goods intended to be thus exclud- 
ed by the minimum square yard duty, Mr. Foot, of 
Connecticut, gave the following accurate descrip- 
tion to congress. 

** During the last four years, manufactures have felt the 
"evils of the system, under which agriculture and com- 
*' merce had suffered for three years, under the accumu- 
*« lated pressure of hard times, and the burdens imposed 
" on them, to sustain the manufacturing interest — but still 
" more by the influx of foreign goods forced through 
" your auctions. Yes, 'sir, by the importations of fabrics 
« of a venj inferior quality— ^^^OOLL,EIi GOODS MANU- 
"FACTURED LIKE SHEATHING PAFEU, ?ieither spu7i 
** nor ivove, but merely pasted together, the remnants of old 
** garments, picked up and majiufactured tvith as little ex- 
*' pense as paper, and through the medivm of your auctions 
*' brought into competition -with your manufactures, subject to 
*' no charges, except, perhaps, a small ad valorem duty, and 
'•' one fourth of one per cent, commission to the auctioneer. In 



76 Address delivered before the 

*' this xvay the foreign manufacturer has been enabled to com- 
*^pete tvith your American manufacturers — and ALMOST 
"ENTIRELY TO DESTROY THE MANUFACTURE 
"OF COARSE WOOLLEN^ GOODS." 

How far those members, whose votes prevented the 
exclusion of this miserable trash, consulted the na- 
tional interests, I leave to the world to decide. Let 
it be observed, that Mr. Foot voted against the 
tariff. 

The duty on cotton bao:ging, at six cents per run- 
ning yard, would be about 38 per cent. The addi- 
tional duty of three cents per yard, to countervail 
the British bounty, would raise it to about 57 per 
cent. 

The increase of duties on linens and East India 
silks, was ten per cent, both recommended by the 
secretary of the treasury, and the latter by the cliam- 
ber of commerce of New York. 

Such are the duties generally, which were to en- 
tail on the country a system of smuggling with all 
its demoralization ! ! ■ . 

To a person unacquainted with the nature of the 
case, it would appear, that our government, im- 
pressed with a horror of the dangers of smuggling, 
had cautiously avoided high duties throughout its 
career — and that there was no duty in the former 
tariff so high as those proposed in the new one. For 
he would naturally conclude, that it would be mon- 
strous inconsistency, to raise such a clamour against 
the imposition of duties, only equal to those which 
had been in force for 15, 20, or SO years. But what 
would be his amazement to learn, that, with the 
exception of cottons between 25 and 35 cents per 
square yard, (those below 25 cents per square yard, 
I repeat, were already nearly excluded by the existing 
minimum square yard duty,) cotton bagging; coarse 
woollens, which, on every principle of justice and 



Philadelphia Agricultural Society, 77 

propriety, ought to be excluded ; and a few other 
articles of little value ; scarcely any of the duties 
were one-third, and none of them nearly one-half so 
high as those imposed on Souchong tea, which pays a 
duty of 150 per cent.? At such information he 
would be petrified with astonishment — and say, , 
what has been said one hundred times before, that j 
men in public bodies, will, without hesitation, do | 
things of which in their individual capacities thej| 
would be ashamed. J 

Coarse brown sugar, bohea tea, and salt, neces- 
saries of life, the two fxrst used almost wholly by 
the poor, are subject to duties respectively, 100, 
120, and 180 per cent. The duty on pepper is 50 
per cent. — on wines from 75 to 100 — and on spi- 
rits, from 150 to 200. With such duties staring us 
in the face, is it not, if possible, worse than *<• strain- 
ing at gnats and swallowing camels," to " make the 
welkin ring" with fearful outcries against the dan- 
ger of smuggling from duties 25, SO, S5, or 40 per 
cent. — on cottons, woollens, iron, and iron ware ? 
But it must not be disguised, and cannot be denied, 
that the policy of our government from its organi- 
zation to the present time, has been so far unfriend- 
ly to the manufacturers, that our duties have been 
almost uniformly exorbitant on those articles not in- 
terfering with them, and, with some exceptio' V jso 
light on manufactures, as to encourage importuaon, 
to the ruin, from time to time, of the hopes of many 
hundreds of our valuable citizens. 

While I am on this subject of high duties, I can- 
not refrain from noticing the deep solicitude in favour 
of the poor, expressed by some of the members of con- 
gress, so far as regards the duties on coarse cottons 
and woollens, used chiefly by this class. Had these 
humane feelings led to consistency of conduct, and 
to a humane reduction of the duties on bohea tea, 
ft 2 



rS Jiddress delivered before the 

coarse brown sugar and salt, they would be enti- 
tled to honour and applause. But lo and behold, 
the duties on bohea tea and salt were passed over 
without the slightest notice ! and a motion to re- 
duce the duty on brown sugar to two cents per lb. 
(equal to about 66 per cent, on the coarsest quali- 
ties,) was "negatived" — and "without a divi- 
sion ! ! : I" Thus the poor cotton weaver pays 100 
per cent, on a bulky necessary of life, subject pro- 
bably to 30 per cent, freight, for the protection of 
the wealthy sugar planter, while he is refused a pro- 
tection of 35 per cent on a light fabric, subject to 
about 2 per cent, freight ! ! !^^ 

Seventh Objection — The danger of provoking the 
ivrath of Great Britain^ so as to induce hertoen- 
conrage the culture of cotton in the Brazils^ in 
other ])arts of South America, and in Egi/pt, and 
of tobacco in the Crimea. 

Of all the objections to' the protection of the ma- 
nufactures of the country, this is the most extraor- 
dinary and indefensible. It is an insult to the go- 
vei-ninent of Great Britain as well as to the govern- 
ment of this country. _^ . 

It is an insult to the British government to ac- 
cuse it of such impertinence and folly, as to attempt 



28 The annals of the civilized world cannot produce a 
more oppressive or partial tariff, than that of the United 
States, enacted in 1816. It is discreditable to the age 
and the nation. Luxuries and conveniences, the fc.mer 
used wholly and the latter cliiefly by the wealthy, were 
admitted at' low rates of duty — and, I repeat, necessaries 
of life, some of them used wholly by the poor, were sub- 
ject to exorbitant duties. Nothing- short of a synopsis of 
some of its leading- features, could satisfy the reader that 
such an odious system could have been adopted in the 
nineteenth century. 



Philadelphia t^grlcidtural Society, 79 

to Intimidate our government from making such in- 
ternal regulations as it may judge proper, to pro- 

Tariff of 1816. 
per cent. S per cent. 

Bohea tea paid 12 cents < Laces, lace veils, pearls, 

per lb. equal to - 120? and diamonds, jewel- 
Souchong tea 25 cents, \ ry, and all articles 
equal to - - 150 < wholly or chiefly of 
Coarse brown sug'ar, 3 \ gold or silver, paid 7^ 

cents per lb. equal to 100 t Watches, clocks, time- 

vSalt 20 cts. per bushel, % pieces, tartan plaids, 

equal to . - 180 < bombazets, damask 

Molasses, 5 cents per I table cloths, silks, sat- 

gallon, equal to - 42 > tins. Canton crapes, 

I chambray gauzes, &c. 15 
f Plated ware, china, cut- 
* lery, girandoles, lus- 
f tres, &c. - - 20 
\ Su]:)erfine broad cloths, 
< kerseymeres, chint- 
f zes, calicoes, Casli- 
$ mere and merino 
. shawls, Brussels and 
\ other carpets - 25 
Operation of these duties. 
100 dollars worth of $ 1200 dollars worth of 
salt paid - $ 180 1 silks, sattins, and 

120 dollars worth of ? Canton crapes, 

souchong tea - 180 ^ paid - - $ 180 

150 dollars worth of bo- ? 1200 dollars worth of 

hea tea - - ISO I china, girandoles, 

180 dollars worth of I lustres, and plat- 

coarse brown sugar 180 ^ ed ware - 240 

( 1200 dollars worth of 

550 dollars paid duties $ 720 | superfine cloth, 

1 merino and Cush- 

l mere shawls, 

.1 chintzes, &c. 300 

\ 3600 dollars pd. duties §720 
Thus 550 dollars worth of tea, sugar, and salt, paid as 



'60 Address delivered before the 

mote the national interest. And it is surely a gix)S9 
insult to our government, to suppose that it could 
be deterred by such threats, if thej were fulminated. 
It would be ludicrous, were not the subject too se- 
rious for ridicule, to consider the delusion that 
prevails on this subject, and the means used to ex- 
cite alarm on this subject,^^ 

much duty as 3600 dollars worth of silks, sattins. Canton 
crapes, plated ware, china, girandoles, broad cloths. Cash- 
mere and Merino shawls. Sec. See. To the reader's good 
sense I put the question, whether such an odious tariff, by 
which the poor were oppressed, and the rich highly favour- 
ed, does not savour more of Venetian aristocracy, than of 
a representative governmentjin which the elective franchise ^ 
is more generally extended among the poorer classes of 
society than in any other country in the world ? Yet this 
is the tariff, every alteration of which has been resisted 
with as much zeal and ardour, as if the independence of 
the country were at Jtake. 

Some trifling alterations were made, during the last 
session, in the tariff of 1816, which increased the duties 
on plated ware, laces, European silks and sattins, and 
some other articles of luxury, 5 per cent. But even now 
100 dollars worth of salt, or 180 dollars worth of the 
coarsest brown sugar, pays as much duty as 900 dollars 
worth of European silks, or as 600 dollars worth of super- 
fine broad cloth, Merino or Cashmere shawls, chintzes, 
Brussels carpets, &c. 

29 The following paragraph, which is going the rounds 
of all the anti-tariff papers in the union, is predicated on 
the idea that the pacha of Egypt has undertaken to avenge 
the cause of the British manufacturers, for the presump- 
tion of congress in daring to alter the trriff— and that he 
must have known in 1822, that such an alteration would 
take place : — 

«I<etters from Egypt mention, that the Pacha will raise 
" 50,000 bales of cotton this year. A London paper re- 
« marks, all this must come to that country in British bot- 
"toms, and consequently will not only be so much sub- 
« tracted from American growth, but a large proportion 



Fliiladelphia Agricultural Society. 81 

No nation ever carried on a more advantageous 
trade with another than Great Britain does with us. 
She derives more benefit from our commerce than 
Spain has ever done from her colonies, rich as they 
are in gold and silver mines. More than nine- 
tenths of all that Great Britain receives from us are 
raw materials, for the emploj^ment of her subjects. 
Notwithstanding her immense possessions in the } 
East and West Indies, which she supplies exclu- ^^ 
sivelj with her manufactures ; and notwithstanding f§ 
also her extensive commerce with the continent of 
Europe, and with South America ; our purchases 
are about a sixth part of her domestic exports, 
which, in 1822, were 40,194,000L or §180,873,000, 
of which we received S 32,914,971 . Almost every 
article we receive from her is elaborated to the 
highest degree of perfection, labour constituting on 
the average probably two-thirds or three-fourths of 
the whole amount. Some idea may be formed of 
the nature of her trade, by the fact, that the raw ma- 
terial of the cotton manufa^cture costs her but about 
5,000,000/. or S 22,500,000— whereas the proceeds 
of the manufacture last year were S243,000,000. 
Can we wonder, after due reflexion on these cir- 
cumstances, at the inordinate and increasing wealth 
of Great Britain and the general depression through- 
out the United States ? 

The following table will evince the lucrative na- 
ture of the trade she carries on with us. 

** of freight deducted from American tonnage. Such are 
" some of the consequences already resulting from the Americim 
*' tariff a ! The celebrated offensive and defensive treaty 
*' of Catharine with the Northern powers, first gave im- 
" portance to the iron manufactures of England, and we 
" shall not be surprised if the American tariff, should it be 
*' persisted ill, make the Mahometans the most extensive gro-wers 
•* of tobacco and cotton,'^* 



82 Address delivered before the 

Imports into the United States from, and Exports to. Great 
Britain, for three years. 

Imports. Exports. 

1821 - - $24,400,954 - $18,883,834 

' 1822 - - 32,914,971 - 22,871,795 

1823 - - 23,031,440 - 21,115,258 



Total 



$80,347,365 



$ 62,870,887 



From the enormous losses on cotton, sustained 
in 1821 and 1822, it is highly probable that the 
amount of our exports, instead of g 62,870,687, 
was not more than % 57,000,000, leaving a balance 
against us of g 23,000,000. Great Britain holds, 
moreover, above a fifth part of our national debt, 
and millions of canal and other stocks, from which 
she derives at least % 2,500,000 per annum.^o 

Let us examine this subject a little more nar- 
rowly. Great Britain, as already stated, prohibits 
altogether our breadstuffs unless in danger of fa- 
mine — and even then subjects them to considerable 
duties. On the few articles she condescends to re- 
ceive from us, the duties are very high — 





Pi'ices in 




i > i 




New York 


Duty. 








July 7, 


British 




Duty 




1824. 


Sterling. 




per ct. 


Ashes, per cwt. 


$ 6.00 


£ 0112* = $ 2.48 


40 


Rice, per cwt. 


$ 3.75 


£ 0150 =$ S.33 


88 


Bbl. staves per M. 


$ 24.00 


£ 3 16 8 == $ 16.33 


68 


Pipe staves per M. 


$ 50.00 


^ 10 00 = $ 44.44 


90 


Hhd. staves per M. 


$36.00 


^7134 =$32.06 


88 


Tobacco, per lb. 


4 to 8 cts. 


£ 4 =$00.88 


1480 



30 « The New York canal from Buffalo, on Lake Erie, to 
** Albany, according to statements recently laid before 
♦• the New York legislature, will cost 7,597,271 dollars. 
*' The far greater part of the stock is held by British capi- 
*• talists.*' — Colonial Register and West India Journal, May 
1824, page 58. 

* This article, from Canada, pays only Is. 8d. 



Philadelphia Jlgricultural Society. 83 

Here is a curious state of things. Great Britain 
may and does prohibit the staple on which half our 
population depend — she may and does impose du- 
ties of 40, 68, 88, 90, and 1480 per cent, on such 
of our productions as she receives — and yet, Ame- 
rican citizens, representing the United States in , 
the national legislature, are not ashamed to threat- 
en their country with the resentment of Great Bri- | 
tain, if she dare — what? not retaliate prohibition ) 
by prohibition — what then ? merely impose duties | 
on British manufactures, in common with the ma- 
nufactures of all other nations, from 25 to 50 per 
cent. — the great mass of which are at or below 30 
per cent. ! ! ! On this subject comment is wholly un- 
necessary. 

The cultivation of cotton, do what we may, will 
advance with great rapidity, and overrun consump- 
tion, although the latter is increasing. Low as the 
price is, it pays better at present than most other 
agricultural productions — and always commands 
cash. Peru, Chili, Buenos Ayres, the Colombian 
republic, and Egypt are entering the lists ^with our 
planters, and will prove formidable competitors. 
Great Britain affords the largest market and the 
surest money sales in the world; and therefore, 
without any effort on the part of her government 
the article will seek that quarter, which will be con- 
stantly glutted, and the prices as constantly de- 
pressed. Our system absurdly and perniciously aids 
the depression by forcing our farmers to become 
cotton planters, and thus increasing the production. 
The case of tobacco, except the very fine qualities, 
is still more unpromising. The consumption does 
not materially increase — but the production is ex- 
tending far and wide. Canada has become a com- 
petitor. 



84 ^flddress delivered before the 

How immensely different the conduct of the Bri- 
tish government from that of the United States! 
With what unceasing and parental solicitude it 
watches over the interests and protects the indus- 
try of its subjects ! It shuts out every thing which 
could interfere with either. Of this we have a most 
striking case at the present hour, as regards its 
agricultural population. The importation of foreign 
breadstuffs for consumption in Great Britain is pro- 
hibited until the prices average as follows: 

Wheat per quarter 70s. and rye, 46s. 

Exclusive of large quantities of flour, there are 
now stored under bond in Great Britain, 640,000 
bushels of wheat, a considerable part of which has 
lain there for above a year — not one grain of which 
will be allowed to be consumed in the British do- 
minions. The average of the six weeks immediately 
preceding the 15th of May, was 64s. 7d. per quar- 
ter, or Ss. Id, equjil to S 1.78|^ cents per bushel. 
Wheat in our maiSets is about S 1.05 to S 1.15 ; 
so that had we the privilege of supplying the Bri- 
tish markets, it would make a difference in favour 
of the consumer, of about SO to 35 per cent. : and, 
according to the principle of buying where produce 
or manufactures can be iiad cheapest, Great Bri- 
tain ought to allow us to feed some of those ma- 
nufacturers who labour for us. But she scouts this 
policy, and extends the segis of legislative pro- 
tection to the agriculturist equally with the manu- 
facturer. 

Let it be carefully noted, that even when the 
price of wheat rises to 70s. or % 15.33 per quarter, 
and when the importation of our wheat is permit- 
ted, it is subject to a duty of 17s. per quarter for 
the first three months, and 12s. afterwards. 

A fact respecting the British corn laws, which 
sheds strong light on this subject, and reflects the 



Philadelphia ^Agricultural Society. 85 

highest credit on the policy of Great^Britain, de- 
serves particular attention. Formerly Ihe minimum 
average price of wheat for six weeks, at w hich tlie 
importation of foreign wheat for domestic con- 
sumption was allowed, was 80s. per quarter. From 
the appearance of the harvest in 1817, there was 
every reason to believe that the price would over- 
run this average, and of course that the ports would 
be opened. This idea was distinctly held out by 
the Liverpool merchants. Accordingly great expor- 
tations took place from hence to Great Britain. Con- 
trary, however, to all calculation, the average was 
only 79s. Td. In consequence, the ports were clos- 
ed — a large portion of the shippers ruined — and 
the prospects of bur farmers blighted. So critically 
nice the calculations — so parental the care of the 
British government over the welfare of its subjects ! 
When shall we see the same anxiety, the same so- 
licitude, the same fostering care displayed by the 
government of the United States ! 

In placing before you, fellow citizens, these im- 
portant features of British policy, so profound and 
so creditable to her statesmen, and so certain a 
means of promoting national wealth, I have two 
objects in view. One, to show the striking con- 
trast between the system of Great Britain and that 
of the United States; the other, to prove what erro- 
neous opinions have been broached, in and out of 
Congress, on the subject of " cutting the cords that 
tie down commerce to the earth." 

Four years have elapsed, since a public do- 
cument, presented to Congress, very confidently 
stated, that 

*' The statesmen of the old ivorld, in admiration of the svC' 
" cess of our policy ! are relaxing the rigonr of their own sys' 
"terns/ and yielding- themselves to tt^e rational doctrine, 
•'that national weulih is be-^t pvoinni/-n f.v ,; /';.■/> ;../.v. , 



86 Jlddress delivered before the 

^'change of commodities^ vpon principleH of perfect reciprO' 
'*citijr* 

The idea here held out, has been re-echoed in 
newspapers and pamphlets, and speeches in Con- 
gress, and bj orators out of Congress, one hundred 
times. We are assured, and by citizens of the 
highest respectability, that Great Britain is repeal- 
ing her restrictive system as fast and as far as prac- 
ticable — and that if we enact such a system, we 
shall disgracefully adopt the discarded and repro- 
bated policy of Europe. 

Now, however extraordinary it may appear, it is 
indubitably true, that these assertions are entirely 
destitute of foundation. No such measures have 
been adopted. I do not accuse the gentlemen in 
question of wilful errors. I feel confident they 
believe what they state. But their belief does 
not at all affect the question. They are called 
upon to disprove, by substantial facts, the follow- 
ing averment — thtit so far as regards the internal 
consumption of foreign produce, (raw materials 
excepted,) or foreign manufactures, no relaxation 
whatever worth notice has taken place in Great 
Britain within the last ten years. If they do not 
thus disprove it, it must be regarded as a proof that 
it is destitute of foundation. I need not add that 
this is all that concerns the question of the tariff. 
The relaxation of her colonial system, and of her 
navigation laws, belongs to a totally different subject. 

In a preceding part of this address, I have stated 
the high duties on the chief articles received from 
this country in Great Britain. I now annex a list 
of the duties that are actually in force on other 
articles — duties enacted so late as 1819. 



Philadelphia Jlgricultural Society, Sf 

Per cent. | ^ Pev cent. 

Glass bottles and glass ) Skins or furs in any 

manufactures, gene- i way dressed - 75 

rally - - - 80 ^ Linen, not chequered 

Chinaware - - 75 ^ or striped - - 63 

Cotton manufactures 75 ^ Linen sails - -104! 

Earthenware - - 75 I Linen, chequered, stri- 

Hides - - - 75 ^ peel, or printed 17'2\ 

Leather, or manufac- f Pasteboards, per bun-^ 

tures whereof lea- * dred weight 3i^^3 8.6! v 

ther is the princi- 5 

pal part - - '^^ i 

Fifty or sixty enumerated, and all non-enumerated, slvH- 
c\es, ffiy per cent. ! ! ! 

How can gentlemen, with these facts before 
them — facts of public notoriety — how can they, 
I say, descant on the "/ree interchange of commo- 
" dities upon the principles of perfect reciprocity, '^^ 
and on the discarding of the restrictions of Great 
Britain ? Where are we to look for the " recipro^ 
city^^ here? 

But these examples were unnecessary for the 
disproof of the assertions thus confidently made. 
The case of the exclusion of our breadstuffs, on 
which I have already fully dilated, would be suffi- 
cient to set this question at rest for ever. Great 
Britain never imported in any one year as much 
flour as would supply her population for three 
weeks. Consequently the whole amount she coukl 
receive from us, were her ports unlimitedly open 
to our breadstuffs, would be unimportant, and 
could not materially affect her agriculturists. And 
if she were disposed to admit *'a free exchange of 
commodities upon prhiciples of perfect reciprocity,''^ 
this would be a favourable opportunity of making a 
commencement. 

»' Pasteboard, thus subject to a duty of above $15 per 
cwt. is sold in this city for $4.50 per cwt. 



88 Address delivered before the 

She is, I admit, about to change her system with 
respect to the silk manufacture. But the change 
does not bear out our citizens in the statements 
^yhich I have quoted. By absolute prohibitions of 
silk goods of all descriptions, she has brought the 
manufacture to such complete perfection, as to be 
enabled to compete with the French and Italians 
in their own markets. She therefore no longer 
requires prohibitions, which are to be repealed, 
but not until the year 1826 — so cautious is she to 
guard the industry of her citizens from foreign 
competition. And even when the prohibition is 
abnjgatrd, the duties are to be nearly prohibitory — 
plain silk goods are to pay S 2.88 — and figured 
JS 4.44 per lb. All other silk goods and silk slioes 
are to pay 30 per cent, ad valorem. Such is the 
extent to which slie " cuts the cords which tie com- 
merce to the earth," so far as regards this species 
of goods, the only kind that has been as yet brought 
into consideration. And to afford adequate com- 
pensation to the manufacturers of silk goods, she 
has reduced the duties as follows. Rav*^ silk from 
the East Indies in future, instead of 4s. per lb. is 
to pay only 'S.d; from China and Italy, instead of 
as. 6f/. to pay ^d.; and from the Brazils, instead of 
^As. to pay 7s. 6d. 

Friends and Fellow Citizens^ 
The subject I undertook to discuss is almost in- 
exhaustible, and is but slightly broached in this ad- 
dress. But it is, I feel, time to draw to a close. I 
had written much more ; but fearing to trespass on 
your patience, I omit the residue, and here con- 
clude, hoping that I have proved, that the policy 
pursued by this government has the most withering 
influence on the prosperity of the country— that 
there is an identity of interests between the two 



Fhiladelphia *Bgricidtural Sodefy* 89 

great branches of human industry, the creation of 
the rude produce of the soil, and the moulding and 
fashioning that produce for the comfort and conve- 
nience of mankind — that it is impossible to depress 
the latter, without inflicting severe injury on the 
former — and that none but an enemy of both, will 
ever attempt to separate their interests, or to ex-;,; 
cite jealousy or hostility between the great classes! 
devoted to those all-important objects. | 



(End of the address as delivered.) 



^mM 



n Z 



( 90 ) 

TJie extreme length of the address^ as originally 
written, induced the speaker to omit the latter part 
of it, ivhich, in order to render it comjjlete, and to 
lay the whole subject before the reader, is here an- 
nexed in the shape of an 

APPENDIX. 



In every stage of this investigation, we find a 
striking contrast between our policy and that of all 
the celebrated statesmen of Europe of past and pre- 
sent times, the Edwards, the Walsinghams, tlie 
Sullys, the Colberts, the Frederics, and those who 
now rule the destinies of Great Britain, France, 
and Russia, and are laying the foundations of their 
prosperity on the most solid basis. Either the whole 
mass of them, were and are utterly destitute of wis- 
dom and sound policy, or our system is radically 
and incurably unsound. There is no other alterna- 
tive. Those statesmen fostered and protected, and 
these still continue to foster and protect nascent 
manufactures, by bounties, premiums, loans, immu- 
nities, and prohibitions of, or prohibitory duties on, 
rival articles. How different the conduct of our 
government, and how inexpressibly mortifying to an 
American, and indelibly discreditable to our rulers ! 
Many of our manufactures have arisen to maturity, 
by the native energy of our citizens, unaided by 
bounties, premiums, loans, or, except in the case of 
coarse cottons, and two or three other articles, by 
prohibitory duties. But alas ! from time to time, 
our government, a republic, emanating from, res- 
ponsible to, and paid by, the people, beholds them 
prostrated, their proprietors bankrupted, and the 



national wealth impaired, without the least inter- 
ference in their defence ! ! Every effort to save them 
from ruin, is combated with as much zeal and ar- 
dour, as if it were an attempt to rob the rest of the 
community. I shall produce but one or two out of 
a score of instances. In the depressed and ruinotis 
state of the woollen manufacture, as already staled, 
*every motive of justice, humanity, and sound na- 
tional policy, called upon congress to afford this 
important branch decisive and powerful protection. 
But what has been done for it at the last session ? 
It is wholly unimportant, and will have scarcely 
any effect. After a long struggle, an addition of 
five per cent, was made to the existing duty, for 
one year, and three per cent, more afterwards ! ! 
at the same time, contrary to every principle of 
sound policy, the raw material was burdened with 
an additional duty of five per cent, and with pro- 
gressive duties from twenty to fifty per cent. !^=^ 

To this let me add the case of pottery and stone 
ware. Extensive manufactories of those articles 
were established during the war, and carried on 
successfully, to the advantage of the country, and 
the emolument of the undertakers. Produced from 
a raw material otherwise almost entirely worthless, 
these manufactures were entitled to peculiar pro- 
tection — and their bulk was a sufficient guard against 
smuggling, the bugbear so constantly held out to 
terrify the nation from any increase of the duties 
on manufactures. Mr. Dallas in his proposed ta- 
riff reported a duty of SO per cent, which might 
have saved from ruin this branch of industry, the 

32 While our government lias burdened the raw material 
of the important but struggling woollen manufacture, with 
an immediate duty of 20 percent, — and prospective duties 
of 25 and 30, the British government has wisely reduced 
the duty fvom six pence to one penny per lb. 



92 Jlppendix. 

importation of the productions of which costs the 
country about 1,100,000 per annum. The duty 
was reduced to 20 per cent. — and in consequence, 
the manufacture was almost entirely ruined. 

I next proceed to consider the effects of our po- 
licy, as regards immij^rants and immigration. Wise 
governments have uniformly encouraged the immi- 
gration of talented foreigners into their territories, 
as a source of wealth and power. History is re- 
plete with instances of the immense advantages 
which have been derived from this system. The 
wicked and impolitic repeal of the edict of Nantes, 
drove some hundreds of thousands of Hugonot ar- 
tists, manufacturers, and mechanics, from France, 
to enjoy the pfrecious and inalienable right of woi:- 
shipping God, according to the dictates of their 
consciences. They were received with open arms 
in every part of Europe to which they fled for re- 
fuge. They amply repaid the kindness and hospi- 
tality they experienced, by imparting to England, 
Holland, and Germany, various arts which had be- 
fore been confined to France. They either intro- 
duced or greatly improved some of those arts and 
manufactures, which have since mainly contributed 
to elevate Great Britain to the towering height 
where she stands, the wonder and envy of the 
world, so far as substantial power and resources 
are concerned — and recently the arbitress of its 
destinies. 

If such has been the policy, as regards immigra- 
tion, with nations thickly peopled — if such have 
been its salutary effects — how much more powerful 
the inducements, as applicable to the United States, 
whose population bears so small a proportion to its 
territory .^ There is in fact no country in the world, 
except perhaps Russia, which is so strongly impel- 
led by sound policy, to promote immigration as the 
United States. ^ ^ ., .....**. 



Jippendiv. 93 

There is, moreover, no country in the civilized 
world, which could hold out such great inducements 
to foreigners to emigrate from their own country— 
none, which might so readily be rendered what it 
was once styled— *' an asylum for the oppressed of 
allnations"— none, after which foreigners yearn 
so ardently— and none, to which they would more 
readily transfer th^imselves. 

Were manufactures adequately protected, and 
tlie country prosperous, as it would be in that case, 
there cannot be a doubt that every }^ear would add 
at least 30,000 to our population, with all their ta- 
lents, their wealth, and their industry. 

As this number will probably appear extravagant, 
it may be proper to state the data on which it is 
predicated, which, I trust, will remove all doubt on 
this point. 

From statements in the "Weekly Register, the 
editor of which is remarkably attentive to such 
subjects, it appears that in the week ending Aug. 
16, 1816, between 12 and 1500 passengers arrived 
in New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore— and 
in the next week, ending August 23„there arrived 
1354, in 23 vessels, besides several in two vessels, 
of which the numbers were not stated. 

According to Dr. Seybert, there arrived in ten 
ports of the United States, in the year 1817, no less 
than 22,240 passengers, which number, however, in- 
cluded citizens, as well as foreigners. The number of 
citizens could not have been very considerable ; 
whereas of foreigners, great numbers, not register- 
ed, arrived by land and otherwise, from the British 
North American colonies, far more, in all probabi- 
lity, than the number of citizens who were regis- 
tered. 

By a return made by the mayor of New York, it 
appears, that, from the" 2d of March, 1818, till Dc- 



94 Jippendioc, 

cember 11, 1819, being little more than 21 months, 
there were entered at his office 18,929 foreign pas- 
sengers, of whom 16,093 were British subjects. On 
close attention to the subject, he declared his con- 
viction that these were but two-thirds of those who 
had arrived within that time. According to this 
calculation, the aggregate was about 28,500, or at 
the rate of 16,000 per annum. Supposing that 
only an equal number arrived in all the other ports, 
it would make the number 32,000. But let it be 
observed, that, according to Dr. Seybert's state- 
ment, above quoted, the number who arrived in 
New York in 1817, was only one-third of the whole. 
According to which rate, 1 might assume 48,000 
per annum in 1818 and 1819. 

Ten thousand immigrants lately arrived in Up- 
per Canada in one season — of whom very probably, 
four-fifths would have come to the United States, 
had they had a project of advantageous employ- 
ment. 

These data will certainly bear me out in the as- 
sumption of 30,000 per annum. 

The number has been reduced of late very low ; 
because thousands who arrived in this country, at 
a great sacrifice of time and money, found they 
had not bettered their situation, and that it was 
difficult and scarcely possible for them to procure 
employment at their regular occupations. Of those 
thus disappointed, such as had means to pay their 
passage, returned home, and spread unfavourable 
accounts of the country, whereby the spirit of emi- 
gration was nearly annihilated. The National Jour- 
nal states the number of foreign passengers in 1823, 
from official documents, at only 6417, of whom it 
calculates that 1700 have returned, reducing the 
number who remained to about 4,700. 

It is a disheartening truth, that in a country ca- 



Appendix. 



95 



pable of maintaining one hundred times its present 
population, there are too many of ahnost every 
class — too many farmers — too many planters — too 
many merchants— too many lawyers — too many 
doctors — and too many of nearly every kind of 
manufacturers and mechanics. Hence there is no 
encouragement whatever to immigration. This 
arises from our citizens being wholly precluded by 
foreign supplies, from so many branches of business 
and such various occupations, that all those which 
are not thus closed against them, are crowded. 
There can be no truth more clear than this, that 
the greater the variety of occupations in a commu- 
nity, the greater the scope for ingenuity and talent, 
the greater the reward for industry, and the higher 
the grade of individual and general prosperity. 

I venture on an estimate of the advantages to be 
derived from an immigration of 20,000 persons an- 
nually for ten years, supposing their labour to add 
to the national wealth only a quarter dollar per 
day, on an average — and supposing them to bring 
into the country at the r%te of 50 dollars each: — 





No, of im- 

inig'rants in 
the country 


Value of 
labour. 


Specie im- 
ported. 


First year - - 
Second year 
Third year - - 
Fourth year 
Fifth ye'ar - - 
Sixth year - - 
Seventh year - 
Eighth year - 
Ninth year - - 
Tenth year - - 


20,000 

40,000 

60,000 

80,000 

100,000 

120,000 

140,000 

160,000 

180,000 

200,000 


$ 

1,560,000 

3,120,000 

4,680,000 

6,240,000 

7,800,000 

9,360,000 

10,920,000 

12,480,000 

14,040,000 

15,600,000 


$ 
1,000,000 
1,000,000 
1,000,000 
1,000,000 
1,000,000 
1,000,000 
1,000,000 
1,000,000 
1,000,000 
1,000,000 


Total- - - - 




85,800,000 


10,000,000 



96 Jlppendix. 

If we suppose each individual immigrant to be 
worth to the state, 300 dollars, which is a low esti- 
mate, the whole would amount to the sum of 
S60,000,000. 

It has been yery gravely asserted that this coun- 
try is peculiarly calculated for agriculture; and that 
\yhile it possesses so much vacant land, it is impo- 
litic to take any measures to accelerate the growth 
of manufactures. There are, nevertheless, on the 
contrary, reasons in favour of fostering manufac- 
tures here, which do not exist to the same extent in 
Great Britain or France. Although the United 
States are as highly blest with the means of carry- 
ing on an extensive internal communication as any 
nation in the world, yet a very large portion of our 
territory is, and must for an age remain remote 
from the advantages of navigation, and, without 
the encouragement of manufactures, can never fully 
avail itself of the bounties of nature, lavished with 
a liberal hand. This is the situation of extensive 
regions in Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee, and the 
interior of Pennsylvania, and Virginia, which are 
70, 80, or 100 miles from any navigable stream, 
and 4 or 500 from the x\tlantic. Whereas, there 
are few parts of England more than 20, and of 
France more than 50 miles from the means of com- 
municating with that ocean. 

On the 12th of June, the sale of flour at New 
Orleans was dull at S4.20 to 4.75. Deduct the 
expense of transportation from parts of Kentucky 
remote from navigation, and this price will not pay 
the expense of cultivation. 

It is the part of wisdom to profit by the errors 
and misfortunes of others — ^of the reverse of wis- 
dom, not to profit by one's own. We have had 
ample and dear-bought experience to warn us 
against the deleterious consequences of our present 



Appendix. 97 

policy — but it appears in vain. I have already 
touched on the consequences of our extravagant, 
uncontrolled importations in 1783 and 4. A bare 
reference to those produced by a similar course in 
1815 and 16, is enough. They are too fresh in the 
memory of the many who suffered, and of the few 
who profited by their sufferings, to require detail. 
But I request your attention to the period from 
the organization of our government till the close of 
the late war. 

From the year 1789 till the year 1812, a period 
of 23 years, this country enjoyed a peace inter- 
rupted only by the short contest of a few months 
with France. During a large portion of the time, 
our commerce flourished. Our farmers had sure 
markets and high prices for their produce. Our 
statesmen, believing that we were not " ripe for 
manufactures^''^ bestowed no pains to foster or pro- 
tect them. But the native energy of our citizens 
overcame all difficulties so far as regarded most of 
the manufactures depending on manual labour, with 
which they supplied the home demand, as hats, 
shoes, saddlery, carriages, books, types, and a va- 
riety of others. But in the all-important articles 
of clothing, woollens, cottons, and linens, we were 
baffled completely. We were almost altogether 
clothed by Great Britain. What was the conse- 
quence.^ Just previous to the commencement of 
the late war, the nation owed a tribute to the In- 
dians of 6000 blankets, which she was unable to 
furnish. She was cut off from British supplies 
b^r the non-intercourse law: and, by her previous 
withering policy, was rendered unable to produce 
them from her own resources ! The destitution of 
these means v/as proclaimed to the world, by a 
formal proposijon on the part of the secretary of 
war, to repeal the non-intercourse, so as to enable 



98 Jlppendix, 

us to procure them from Great Britain 1 1^'' This 
single fact is sufficient to determine the pernicious 
character of the misguided policy which placed a 
powerful, enterprising, and industrious nation in 
such a disgraceful situation, and sacrificed for so 
long a period, at least 10,000,000 of dollars an- 
nually for clothing, which our own citizens could 
have furnished. 

But this is far from the whole of the evil. So in- 
tense were the sufferings of our soldiers in the war 
on the north-western frontier, for want of adequate 
clothing, that it is confidently asserted, and with 
every appearance of truth, that as many of them, 
in certain stages of the war, fell victims to the in- 
clemency of the weather, as by the arms of the 
enemy. 

This ought to be an eternal lesson to our states- 
men, against the danger, and folly of trusting to 

M I have not been able, after a most diligent researcli, 
to procure the report of the secretary at war, soliciting* a 
repeal of the non-intercourse law — but I annex the pro- 
ceedings of congress on the subject, which are equally 
conclusive — 

House of Representatives, U. S. Jan. 2, 1812. 

« A motion was made by Mr. M'Kee and seconded, that 
*« the House do come to the following resolution : 

" Resolved, That the Committee of Commerce and 
" Manufactures be instructed to inquire into the expedi- 
"ency.of authorizing by law, the introduction into the 
*' United States of such foreign goods as may be necessary 
*« far the usual supplies of the Indian department, and that 
«' they have leave to report by bill or otherwise. 

" The said resolution was read and ordered to lie on the 
" table. 

" Mr. M'Kee laid before the House a letter from the 
«' Secretary of War, addressed to him as chairman of the 
*' committee on Indian affairs, stating the difficulty of pro- 
** curing goods suitable for the Indian trade, which was 
*' also ordered to lie on the table."— /<>«r7ia/s, 1811— 1?>. 
p. 214. 



appendix, 99 

foreign supplies for the essential articles of cloth- 
ing. But the lesson was entirely lost upon them 
at the close of the war. They allowed the chief 
part of those who had embarked their all in esta- 
blishments for furnishing the nation with clothing 
during the war, to be ruined for want of protection 
on the return of peace. 

A feature in our affairs far more deplorable, as 
regards the national safety, remains to be stated. 
Notwithstanding the immense advantages we so 
long possessed, our treasury was completely bank- 
rupt in two years ! And the utmost the govern- 
ment was able to raise by imposts, taxes and excises, 
during the whole war, of SO months, was S 35,642,- 
448 !— by loans, at usurious rates, S 45,172,581 ! — 
and, to make up the balance of the expenses of the 
war, recourse was had to the issue of exchequer 
bills, to the amount of S 17,227,280, which depre- 
ciated in the hands of the public creditors, 8, 10, 
and even 12 per cent. ! This was the calamitous 
situation of a nation, in the vigour of its youth, 
which in its infancy had maintained a struggle with 
the power of G. Britain for seven years — a nation, 
a large portion of whose resources had been squan- 
dered to support foreign industry for the preceding 
twenty-three years! The history of the world pre- 
sents no instance of a nation with so many and such 
transcendant blessings, exliibiting such a state of fi- 
nancial decrepitude in the same short space of time. 
The miserable policy which produced such a state of 
things will stand condemned as long as history re- 
mains. 

It is worth while to devote a few moments to the 
consideration of our prospects in the event of be- 
ing involved in another war, a contingency of which 
a wise statesman ought never to lose sight. As 
our government depends for revenue almost alto- 
gether on impost, contrary to the universal practice 



100 JlppendLv, 

of other nations, a war would at once cut off the 
chief part of our resources. Thus this instrument 
of finance, like a treacherous friend, will always 
desert us in our greatest need. We should be 
obliged to recur to direct taxes, excises, and loans. 
And it is a most melancholy truth, that our citi- 
zens, with the exception of a few capitalists, are 
now far less able to support the necessary burdens, 
being generally in much more depressed circum- 
stances, than they were in 1812. Of this no doubt 
can remain, on a view of the statements of the si- 
tuatioa of the country, as given by various mem- 
bers of congress, and quoted in a preceding part 
of this address. And if our treasury became bank- 
rupt in 1814, and the resources of the govern- 
ment were exhausted in so short a space, what a 
melancholy prospect presents itself to our view in 
the event of a future war.^ 

In order duly to appreciate our policy and its unfor- 
tunate effects, it may be proper to take a view of the 
result of the British policy, diametrically opposite to 
ours. Our duties are, with few exceptions, calculated 
to encourage the importation of foreign manufactures, 
which depress and crush our domestic industry. 
The duties of G-reat Britain are regulated so as to 
exclude every thing with which she can supply 
herself. I have shown the effect of ours in a war 
of 30 months. Now let us see the result of her's 
in a war of above twenty years. ** The tree is 
known by its fruit." 

Great Britain raised during that war no less than 
g 7,038,000,000, of which S 4,653,000,000 were by 
impost, direct taxes and excises — and the remain- 
der by loans. 

Her subjects felt this enormous taxation less than 
our citizens did our very light taxes. Her subsi- 
dies to foreign powers amounted to S 247,500,000. 



Jlppendix, 101 

if the contrast during the war was so striking, 
it is no less so at present. She has remitted within 
the last two years, taxes to the amount of S 28,237,- 
500; has an annual surplus of % 22,500,000, with 
which she has established an efficient sinking fund ; 
and has paid oft* a very large amount of her na- 
tional debt. She has been enabled to reduce S 697,- 
500,000 of her debt from 5 to 4 per cent. — and 
S 310,000,000 of 4 per cents, to S|. Her dopies- 
tic exports are annually increasing in amount. Her 
manufactures are extending astonishingly. Her ex- 
ports of cotton goods, which in 1820 were 8 74,- 
750,000, were in 1823, S 99,000,000. She draws 
wealth from every quarter of the world with which 
she has intercourse, so that she has probably at 
this hour more specie than half Europe, and the 
whole of the United States. Her merchants are 
the general bankers of all the distressed govern- 
ments of the new and old world. Loans have been 
made, or instalments paid during the last year, in 
London to the amount of £ 50,000,000 or S225,- 
000,000.2* A loan of a fifth part of the sum to any 
foreign nation would reduce all the banks in the 
United States to bankruptcy, and overspread the 
land with devastation and ruin. 

31 Extract from a late London paper, 
*' England may be denominated the " Great Ranking 
House" of Europe. Within the last year she has loaned 
to other states, over ^50,000,000 The following is a list 
of loans paid or contracted to be paid, in 1824. 
French £ 19,900,000 J Brought over £ 32,120,000 

Dutch - - 2,000,000 \ Buenos Ayres 1,000,000 
Colombian - 4,000,000 ) Greek - - 892,000 

Brazil - - 2,500,000 \ Mexican - 8,800,000 
Portuguese - 500,000 ? Spanish - 5,000,000 

Austrian - 500,000 \ Mines - - 500,000 

Peruvian - 2,720,000 \ Neapolitan - 2,000,000 
Carried over £ 32,120,000 \ Total - £ 50,312,00y" 
I 2 



102 Appendix. 

Having already glanced at the actual situation of 
this country, I shall confine myself here to a brief 
retrospect. In the sixth year of peace, our revenue 
having fallen short, it was proposed to have re- 
course to an excise. But it was formally declared 
by a committee of the House of Representatives of 
the United States, that " the imposition of an ex- 
cise in that season of extreme distress, would be 
unwise P^ and that '* if imposed, it would be difficult 
to collect; and, if collected, it ivoidd, in some parts 
of the union, be in paper little available P^ In the 
year 1822, our government made an attempt to 
convert S 8,000,000 of 7 per cents, and 818,000,000 
of 6 per cents, into fives, irredeemable for fifteen 
years — but were unable to effept it. Our sinking 
fund has been absorbed and sunk into oblivion. 
And we have had, after five years of peace, to bor- 
row S 8,000,000 to meet the exigencies of the go- 
vernment! 

What a glorious triumph the preceding facts fur- 
nish for the British policy, as regards national 
resources! What a heart-rending contrast our af- 
fairs exhibit! — Can a policy producing such blight- 
ing consequences, be other than deleterious? 

I beg attention to one more strong and striking 
contrast between our policy and that of Great Bri- 
tain. The manufacturers of that country are con- 
stantly strugglii:^- to engross the supply o^ foreign 
7narkets. In this they are aided by the government 
and the merchants, the former of whom regard 
manufactures as the most certain basis on which to 
erect the edifice of national prosperity. The lat- 
ter regard the interest and prosperity of the manu- 
facturers as identified with their own. Our manu- 
facturers have to struggle — not for foreign markets, 
from nearly all of which they are excluded. No. 



Appendix. 103 

Their struggle is for a share of the domestic mar- 
ket — for the supply of their own fellow citizens-— 
and this struggle they are obliged to maintain with' 
very unequal odds, not only with the foreign manu- 
facturers and merchants, but with their own go- 
vernment and their own merchants — the latter of 
whom have, from the commencement of the govern- 
ment to the present hour, resisted every serious at- 
tempt to protect their fellow citizens from the 
overwhelming competition of foreign rivals — and 
the former has uniformly regarded them with 
jealousy! 

Whatever high degree of talents, individual 
members of congress may possess, it is to be pre- 
sumed that there scarcely can be found a man 
among them, who, in those moments when self love 
leads us to appreciate our intellectual powers, at 
their utmost value, could fondly flatter himself that 
his opinions should have more weight with this na- 
tion than those of Franklin, Jefferso^n, and Hamil- 
ton, three of the most highly gifted men who have 
figured in the American annals, whose sentiments 
are clear and decisive on this subject, and who pro- 
nounce the strongest condemnation of the system 
we pursue. Out of the numerous maxims of those 
illustrious citizens, I shall quote a few, and trust 
that their cogency will settle the minds of those 
who are wavering on this important subject — con- 
firm those who advocate a change in our policy-— 
and induce those who are opposed to that change, 
to reconsider the subject, laying aside, as far as 
practicable, inveterate prejudices. 

I commence with Thoijias Jefferson, whose early 
opinions on the subject h#^e been often quoted 
against the protection of manufactures. 

" Where a nation imposes high duties on our produe- 



104 Jippendix. 

"tions, OR PROHIBITS THEM ALTOGETHER, IT 
« MAY BE PROPER FOR US TO DO THE SAME BY 
*' THEIRS— ;?r.s^ hirdening or exchtding those productions 
" tvhich they biing here in comJ)etiiio7i ~vith our own of the 
"same kind; selecting next such manufactures as ive take 
"from them in greatest quantity, and -ivhich at the same time 
*' -Me could the soonest furnish to ourselves^ or obtain from 
** other countries; imposing on them duties light at first, 
"but heavier and heavier afterwards, as other channels of 
"supply open. 

" Such duties, having the effect of indirect cncourage- 
" ment to domestic manufactures of the same kind, may 
*' induce the manufactitrer to come himself into these states, 
" where cheaper subsistence, equal laws, and a vent for 
*' his wares, free of duty, may insure him the highest pro- 
**flts from his skill and industry. The oppressions of our 
** agriculture iii foreign parts ivoidd thus be made the occasion 
*^ of relieving it from a dependance on the councils and condiict 
** of others, and of promoting arts, manufactiires, ajid popida- 
" Hon at home.'''^^ 

Next appears Alexander Hamilton, a tower of 
strength on this subject. 

" There appear strong reasons to regard the foreign de- 
" mand for our surplus produce as too uncertain a reliaiice, 
"and to desire a substitute for it, IN AK EXTENSIVE 
"D0:.1ESTIC MARKET."36 

" Manufacturers, who constitute the most numerous 
*' class, after the cultivators of land, are for that reason 
*' the principal consumers of the surplus of their labour.''^? 

"This idea of an extensive domestic market for the 
" surplus produce of the soil is of the firvSt consequence. 
" It is, of all things, THAT WHICH MOST EFFECTU- 
"ALLY CONDUCES TO A FLOURISHING STATE 
" OF AGRICULTURE.38" 

" The establishment of manufactures is calculated not 

35 Jefferson's Report on the Privileges and Restrictions 
of the Commerce of th^Uhited States in Foreign Coun- 
tries. 

36 Hamilton's Report on Manufactures, p. 25. 
■'• Ibid. 3s Ibid. 



appendix, 105 

" only to increase the general stock of useful and produc- 
"tive labour; but even to improve the state of agriculture in 
"particular ; certainly to advance the interests of those 
*' who are engaged in it. "39 

" Though last, not least in favour," Dr. Frank- 
lin : — 

« Foreign luxuries, and needless m'anufactures imported 
"and used in a nation, INCREASE THE PEOPLE OF 
"THE NATION THAT FURNISHES THEM, AND 
"DIMINISH THE PEOPLE OF THE NATION THAT 
« USES THEM."40 

« Laws, therefore, that prevent such importations, and, 
"on the contrary, promote the exportation of manufac- 
" tures to be consumed in foreign countries, may be called, 
** (with respect to the people that make them,) generative 
*'laws, as, BY INCREASING SUBSISTENCE, THEY 
"ENCOURAGE MARRIAGE.»4i 

"Such laws, Ukewise, strengthen a nation doubly, by 
*^ increasing its own people, and diminishing its neigh- 
bours. "^2 

I shall to these strong and pointed maxims, add 
the sentiments of one of the most able political eco- 
nomists of Europe, Anderson, who wrote a cele- 
brated treatise on the promotion of national in- 
dustry. 

" No earthly method remains for encouraging agricul- 
**ture, where it has not reared up its head, that can be 
** considered in any tvay efficacious^ but the establishing pro^ 
*'per manufactures in those countries you tvish to encourage "<^ 

" If a manufacture be established in any rich and fertile 
" country, by convening a number of people in one place, 
** who must all be fed by the fanner, without interfering 
" with any of his necessary operations, THEY ESTA- 
" BLISH A READY MARKET FOR THE PRODUCE 
« OF HIS FARM, AND THUS THROW MONEY IN- 
« TO HIS HANDS, AND GIVE SPIRIT AND ENERGY 
"TO HIS CULTURE."44 



39 Hamilton's Report on Manufactures, p. 35. 

40 Franklin, iv. p. 189. 4i Ibid. 42 ibid. 
^ Anderson on Industry, p. 70, *^ Idem, 37, 



lOG Appendix. 

" Insurmountable obstacles lie in the way of a farmer irt 
*« an unimproved country, who has nothing but commerce 
*' alone to depend upon for providing' a market for the 
" produce of his farm."'^ 

The case of Hamilton, as I have observed on 
various occasions, is peculiarly strong and striking. 
He was the acknowledged leader of a powerful 
party, and, as such, attracted a ten -fold share of 
the hostility of its adversaries, at a period when 
party spirit raged xvith extraordinary violence. Of 
the manufacturers throughout the United States, 
nine-tenths were jealous of him, and hostile to his 
politics. His associations were chiefly among, and 
of course his bias leaned towards, the mercantile 
corps. He could not consequently be suspected 
for a moment of being led astray to favour the views 
of his political enemies. His maxims in favour 
of manufactures, are therefore entitled to the high- 
est degree of attention. Had he declared himself 
averse to their protection, there might be some 
reason to suspect him of being biassed by resent- 
ment for the hostility of the manufacturers, and by 
his predilection in favour of the commercialinterest. 
This able statesman directed all the energies of 
his powerful mind to this great subject, in pur- 
suance of a requisition of congress. He availed 
himself of the knowledge of all the writers who 
had gone before him, and embodied in a small vo- 
lume the collected wisdom of ages, one of the yroud- 
est monuments of practical policy which the world 
has ever produced. That this is not extravagant 
panegyric, will not be controverted by any man 
who reads it with due attention, and with a mind 
untrammelled by plausible but deleterious theories, 
fraught with the ruin of those countries which are 
deluded into their adoption. Tested by the expe- 

45 Anderson on Industry, p. 70. 



Apyendix. 107 

k'ience of the prosperous as well as the wretched 
nations of Europe, his maxims stand the severest 
scrutiny. 

I well know how unpopular many of those sen- 
timents are with a large portion of my hearers, and 
of this community — as well as the odium that always 
attaches to those who encounter public prejudices. 
These considerations have great weight, and would 
be sufficient to impose silence on me in any cause 
of minor magnitude. But convinced that the 
" wealth, power, and resources" of the nation, as 
well as individual prosperity and happiness, are 
deeply interested in the question, I could not for 
a moment hesitate to pursue my course under all 
the responsibility with which it is connected. 



Extracts from Alexander Hamilton's Report on Manufactures. 

" Though it were true, that the immediate and certain 
>* eiFect of regulations controlling the competition of fo- 
" reign with domestic fabrics was an increase of price, it 
** is universally true, that the contrary is the ultimate ef- 
«* feet with every successful manufacture. When a domes- 
** tic manufacture has attained to perfection^ and has engaged 
" in the prosecution of it a competent number of persons, it in- 
*' variably becomes c/ieaper. Being free from the heavy 
" charges which attend the importation of foreign com- 
"modities, it can be afibrded, and accordingly seldom 
" or never fails to be sold cheaper, in process of time, 
" than was the foreign article for which it is a substitute. 
*• The internal competition, ivhich takes^lace, soon does aioay 
•♦ every thing like monopoly, and by degrees reduces the price 
** of the article to the minimum of a reasonable profit on the 
" capital employed. This accords wii/i the reason of the thing, 
*' and -with experience.** 

" Whence it follows, that it is the interest of a commu- 
" nity, with a view to eventual and permanent economy, 
'' to engouragc the growth of manufactures. In a nationat 



( 108 ) 

** view, i a temporary enhancement of price must always be well 
*' coinpejisated by a permanent reduction of it." 

*' The trade of a country which is both manufacturing 
** and agricultural, will be more lucrative and prosperous, 
♦'than that of a country, which is merely agricultural." 

•* While the necessities of nations exclusively devoted 
♦• to agriculture, for the fabrics of manufacturing states, 
'* are constant and regular, the -wants of the latter for the 
** products of the former y are liable to very considerable flue- 
** illations and interruptions. The great inequalities re- 
** suiting from differences of seasons, have been elsewhere 
" remarked ; this uniformity, of demand on one side, and 
*' unsteadiness of it, on the other, must necessarily have a 
** tendency to cause the general course of the exchange of 
" commodities between the parties, to turn to the disad- 
*' vantage of the merely agricultural states. 

" From these circumstances collectively, two important 
*'■ inferences are to be drawn ; I. That there is always a 
" higher probability of a favourable balance of trade, in 
" regard to countries, in which manufactures, founded on 
** the basis of a thriving agriculture, flourish, than in re- 
'*gard to those, which are confined wholly or almost 
** wholly to agriculture ; II. (which is also a consequence 
*' of the first,) that coxintries of the former description are 
** likely to possess more pecuniary wealth, or tnoney, than those 
" in the latter." 

*' The import atioiis of manufactured supplies seem invari' 
*' able to drain the merely agricultural people of their wealth. 
*• Let the situation of the manufacturing countries of Eu- 
*' rope be compared in this particular, with that of coun- 
** tries which only cultivate, and the disparity will be 
** striking.'* 

" The West India Islands, the soils of which are the 
" most fertile ; and the nation which in the greatest degree 
*' supplies the rest of the world, with the precious me- 
" tals ; exchange to a loss with almost every other coun- 
*'try." 

" The uniform appearance of an abundance of specie, 
" as the concomitant of a flourishing state of manufactures, 
*• and of the reverse, where they do not prevail, afford a 
*' strong presumption of their favourable operation upon 
*' the wealth of a country." 

THE END. 



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